


Letting Go

by Reirani



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Norse Religion & Lore, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Gen, Good Loki (Marvel), Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel)'s Kids, Loki is a GOD, Loki is a model, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Thor (Marvel), Reality Stone (Marvel), Team Bonding, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony is a fanboy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-13 14:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15366345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reirani/pseuds/Reirani
Summary: “Why can’t you stay with me and my shield companions? In fact, if I remember my Midgardian geography correctly… you’re staying in another country.”“Very good. It’s heartening to know that you’ve paid attention to your lessons.”“Still, you could at least stay in the same continent.”“So, they could hunt me down and attack me? No, thank you. Now, there’s nothing you can do to change my mind, Thor. I suppose there is no need for me to remind you to keep this to yourself, do I?”--Or Loki just wants to live a normal Midgardian life for the duration of his banishment, but he keeps getting pulled into Avenger's business, courtesy of Thor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have a slight idea of where I'm heading with this, but I'm mostly going to see where this story heads by itself as the chapter continues. This is inspired by the pictures I saw of Loki and Helbindi from Rage of Bahumut game when I was researching about Loki. Long-haired pirate looking Loki, anyone?
> 
> In any case, we'll see how this goes.

Thor glanced over when he heard a string of choice words from the other side of the room, and bit back a grin at the scowling expression from his younger brother.

“Language, Loki. Mother would be most displeased to hear such rudeness from your lips.”

His heart wasn’t into chiding the younger male considering the circumstances, but it was his duty as an older brother to do so.

“I’ll tell her that I learned it from you.” Loki responded rebelliously with a grin to match that tone. “It’s not the furthest from truth either. Have you heard yourself when you’re drunk? It’s astonishing that maidens still bed you when they know what you’re like.”

Thor simply raised a quizzical brow at his brother’s shaking head, somewhat perplexed by the sudden change of topic. He had centuries of experience to be able to foretell lies (of which he still wasn’t good at, sadly) and taunts (of which he _was_ good at, when it happened to be obvious). This, much to his exasperation, was an obvious trap.

Of course, it also meant he had centuries of experience (mostly failures, much to his gloom) to come up with a decent rebuttal because such thing was an unwritten requirement of being a brother to God of Mischief. He could attempt to be as eloquent as Loki on an extremely good day, which was rare if he had to be honest, but he mostly ended up floundering like a Midgardian fish on land… something that utterly amused his brother, much to his dismay.

“It’s a testament of my handsomeness and adoring personality. Surely, you know this already, brother – and Loki, there is no need for such jealousy when you have yet to bed a maiden. If you need pointers, you only need but ask.”

Today just happened to be a good day and he seemed to be on a roll.

He grinned satisfyingly when his younger brother sputtered indignantly (which was an extremely rare occurrence considering a certain Silvertongue title) and shot him a withering glare, to which he responded with a cheeky grin. Oh yes, he had plenty of experiences and he certainly picked up a thing or three in the centuries they grew up.

“I’ll have you know –”

“Where in Midgard are you going to stay at?” Thor questioned as if he hadn’t interrupted, and promptly dismissed the dramatic eyeroll because it was a Loki thing to do. After all, who else in the family would ever think of having a statue of themselves during their reign as a King or have theatrics dedicated about themselves?

Even if the said kingship was only for a couple of years...

“Certainly not with you and your pets.” Loki shot another glare at the interruption, and huffed. “And don’t think that you could coddle me just because I look like my proper age now.”

He gave an amused grin at the declaration, but did not bother to comment on the first remark since it would lead current discussion astray. Instead, he gave a pointed look as he waited for a proper response. He only asked this because he was concerned – not for Loki but for others around his younger brother.

“Why? So, you can keep tabs on me? I’ll have you know that I can take care of myself. If anything, you’re the one who doesn’t know how to properly use Midgardian gadgets. It’s astounding that you managed to survive thus far.”

Well, Loki wouldn’t be Loki without jabbing at his ego every two sentences, he supposed grudgingly.

“Because by Midgardian, Asgardian, and Jötunheimr’s standards, you’re not in your majority yet. Considering that, I am going to be your guardian at Father’s behest, so I need to know where you are staying at if I’m going to check-in on you.” He didn’t think he would need to explain, but he did. “You know Mother doesn’t approve of you living by yourself. I don’t approve either, but I know you’re going to do it regardless of what we say. So, the least you could do is let me know the address to put her heart at ease.”

“Who would’ve thought – after this many years, you learned about guilt-tripping me.” Loki grumbled with a scowl, and scribbled something on a piece of paper before shoving it to his direction.

It amused him that Loki behaved like an angry cat.

“Well, I’d have to learn something from you after all these years.” Thor shrugged amusedly while he looked at the scribble with furrowed brows. “Why can’t you stay with me and my shield companions? In fact, if I remember my Midgardian geography correctly… you’re staying in another country.”

“Very good. It’s heartening to know that you’ve paid attention to your lessons.”

Thor glared at his younger brother upon hearing that mocking yet teasing tone, something he had no desire to put up with. He heaved a sigh when he noted that Loki simply ignored him in favor looking through myriads of spell books.

“Still, you could at least stay in the same continent.” He implored with a frown.

“So, they could hunt me down and attack me?” Loki inquired with a raised brow and gave him a pointed look. “No, thank you. Now, there’s nothing you can do to change my mind, Thor. I suppose there is no need for me to remind you to keep this to yourself, do I?”

He heaved a sigh once more, suddenly feeling like he aged a century since the beginning of this conversation, and grumbled, “I won’t say anything, but if they figured it out themselves, I won’t deny it either.”

“Well, you haven’t mastered the art of deceit despite being with me for all these years.” Loki responded airily with an eye roll. “I must say, I am utterly disappointed in you, brother.”

He had no desire to discern how the younger God managed to sound both disappointed and mocking simultaneously. He merely chalked it up to something only Loki could do, considering he hadn’t heard others to do it. Not that they would do so if they valued their lives.

“Loki…”

________

It all started seemingly innocent enough, and Tony had to admit that he wasn’t even looking for it either. He blamed that stupid magazine cover that he accidentally clicked while he was searching for a decent song to listen to. Due to a certain prank war with Clint, the archer locked him out of his awesome music library for the next two weeks, and he wasn’t in the mood to override its code now. Which meant he had to manually search for each one if he wanted to listen to it – and he wasn’t that desperate yet.

Thus, he was on a self-appointed mission – one that involved stealth, cunningness, and highly-skilled interrogation techniques. Of course, he could ask one of the spies to do it for him, but he didn’t want Natasha to give him that ‘I-have-better-things-to-do-than-waste-my-time-with-this-nonsense’ look, and Clint… well, the Hawk was his opponent in this prank war, so there was that.

“So, Point Break, when were you going to tell us that Reindeer Games is on Earth? What kind of Asgardian Justice did your father issued that he is on Earth again?”

He heard an indignant squawk of, “What?” from a certain archer.

“Where did you see him, Man of Iron?”

“He was on a magazine cover. Did you know anything about that?”

Tony doesn't know what to do when the God looked more amused by his remark, and tried his best to remain quiet as he waited for an explanation. There had to be an explanation for all of this, and a reason why Loki – _Loki –_ was a model… a really hot model. And no, he was not hitting on Thor’s insane baby brother.

“The Thing declared Loki innocent of his actions.” Thor began with a relieved smile, and shot a look when the others was about to interrupt. “Loki wasn’t anywhere in the Nine Realms – which was why Heimdall couldn’t locate him after his fall from Bifrost. We found out that he landed on a desolate realm and was in the hand of the Mad Titan, whom Grandfather Bor and Father banished centuries prior. This being broke him through unrelenting physical, mental, and emotional coercion upon finding who Loki was in relation to Asgard. Time lapsed differently in that realm – what was a year for me… us… was ten years for Loki.”

“I’m guessing the poor attempt to conquer our world was his way out of that captivity?” Bruce questioned with a raised brow.

“Despite the torments he faced, my brother was never without a plan, it seems. He was more resilient than we gave him credit for.” The god gave a proud grin at the end of the remark, which immediately transformed into a sullen sigh as if he remembered something. “Since his actions were not his own, The Thing declared Loki innocent. Jötunheimr declared him innocent for nearly destroying the realm as well since it was initially my actions that broke the peace treaty between us. Loki’s deed was an act of defense when some Jötnar broke into our vault. The only damage was to the land when he focused Bifrost at Jötunheimr, and not its peoples… its King, Loki's biological brother, forgave him. It also helped that they received Casket of Ancient Winters as weregild. Since Loki is a Jötun himself, its current king advocated a proposition – upon reaching his majority, he is to reside in Jötunheimr for foreseeable time to learn about the realm and its culture. I believe, in time, they plan to make him the King.”

“What the hell? They just gave him a tap on his wrists for everything he had done?” Clint growled in dissatisfaction.

“He was just as a victim as you were, Agent Barton, if not more. You know nothing of the ordeals he went through, and you dare to fault my baby brother when he’s declared innocent?” Thor retaliated with overprotectiveness.

Tony blinked in surprise at the proclamation, and resisted the urge to grin when Clint choked out a weak protest. He had the feeling the spy didn’t want to upset the god despite the frustration from the result of the esteemed ‘Asgardian Justice’.

“Speaking of which, what’s the age difference between you and Loki since you kept calling him your ‘baby brother’?” He decided to ask.

It was something that nagged at the back of his mind for a while, and he never had the chance to question Thor.

“Aesir ages differently than Jötnar. Even though our realm – Asgard – sit atop the branches of Yggdrasil, Jötnar are magical superior beings than us. They live much longer than us and age slower because Jötnar are the proto-beings of Ymir, the very first God existed in Nine Realms. In a sense, they are direct descendants of Ymir than any Aesir. I'm sure there is a history behind this, but it is something Loki is more knowledgeable about than I.” The God began with a brief background, but didn’t seemed to desire explaining the history more than he already has. “If I were to compare our age to your Midgardian age, I am about 28, and Loki would be about 18 even if there is only five centuries difference between us. I didn’t know about this until The Thing, so I was just as surprised as you are now. We found out that his Aesir glamour made him look our age than his true age.”

Tony choked on his coffee at the revelation (he also heard Clint made some choking noises in the background), and stared at the Norse God in horror. “He hasn’t even reached the age limit to drink by American standards, and I offered him a drink?”

He certainly wasn't going to say anything about his thoughts on Loki's looks. He had self-preservation, thank you very much.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Bruce sighed resignedly, looking as if this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Hey, I’m trying to be a responsible adult here like you've been forcing me to be. I can’t believe I offered a drink to a kid.” Tony responded in mock seriousness.

“So, where is he now, Thor?” Natasha cut in with an expectant look. “If he’s here on Earth, we need to keep tabs on him.”

Tony raised a brow when he saw Thor gave an unreadable look in response, and uttered, “I’m sorry, friends; but I cannot betray Loki’s trust by revealing his location to you. He truly is different being from whom he presented as during his invasion to your world. I give you my word on this.”

“Thor, buddy, we want to believe you. We really do, but this is Loki we are talking about.” He replied as carefully as he could without angering the God, and added, “I don’t trust Reindeer Games as far as I can throw him.”

“Then you really don’t know Loki, Man of Iron. Between the two of us, my brother is more of a God than I am.” Thor paused momentarily as if to make them consider the following words. “You might have won against him last time, but that was against him under extreme duress. You must be foolish if you think you can defeat the God of Mischief, Illusion, Fire, Chaos, and Change.”

“I’m sure we can find him with our technology and science.” Tony quipped while he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “How hard can it be?”

Thor didn't bother to utter a response to that, and simply added, “I've only told you so that his presence wouldn't surprise you, if you see him. If you provoked him and he retaliated, I will not say that it is his fault.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your support, everyone.

If anyone dared to question Tony, he would deny it until his last breath – he was not stalking Loki, really. If anything, he was merely gathering information – research, if he needed to word it eloquently – about the Earth’s former invader. He was trying to sedate his curiosity considering his failed attempts to locate the God through his technology.

How could it be this difficult to find someone like Loki? It somewhat helped that Loki – of all people – decided to be a model (which he still had difficulties comprehending, and it truly baffled him) and lived a very public life. Other than the public information, he had no leads about the Trickster’s whereabouts – although he speculated it to be at somewhere in Asia (he speculated it either China, South Korea, or Japan).

It had only been two months since Thor’s announcement, and it was insane how the public loved the Trickster God, who happened on the front page of various fashion magazines. Not that he read those magazines, but he could appreciate those good-looking pictorials, which he saved in his private severs for microscopic observation later… in the privacy of his room.

“Of all names, why do you have to ruin Star Wars? Why?” He bemoaned to no one in particular. “Lukas Skywalker, really? You just had to choose that name?”

His ever-faithful JARVIS decided not to utter a comment to his whine, and instead said, “Sir, Director Fury is on the line. He said this is important.”

“He always says his calls are important, J.” Tony responded flippantly while he flipped through one of the fashion magazines he subscribed for research purposes. “Tell him I’m busy. Make up an excuse, sweetheart; what I’m doing is more important than whatever he has to say.”

“Sir, he is insisting that you answer his call.” Jarvis warned.

He could’ve sworn his AI’s tone was one of disappointment at his behavior – he couldn’t discern it currently, but he couldn’t bother to look through the coding to ascertain it either. Nevertheless, he grumbled his disagreement and made a gesture to take the call with some reluctance, if only to make it go away sooner.

“Stark.”

“Nicky, what do I owe the pleasure for you calling me?” He questioned dismissively.

His entire focus and concentration was on a certain full-page picture of Loki – _Lukas_ – with long hair and leather costume. It seemed sinful that the God looked this good and manly, despite the long hair; and no, he was not drooling at all. He doesn’t want to seem like he was cheating on Pepper, but he certainly wouldn’t mind getting a taste or five if such sin looked this good. Pepper would understand.

“Stark, what do I hear about Loki being on Earth and how come he’s not locked up?”

He flicked a glance from his magazine and wondered from whom Director Fury heard this information. Clint? Natasha? Steve? It could be any one of those three since they happened to be such loyalists to SHIELD.

Regardless, he undoubtedly was not going to participate in whatever cat-and-mouse game SHIELD decided to have with Loki. He valued his life and time too much to be on the other end of overprotective Thor when (not if) the Thunder God discovered whatever tactics SHIELD decided to enforce to capture the younger God.

“I have no idea what you’re talking, Nicky-poo.”

It amused him how red Nick Fury could look with that mere sentence. He felt mildly concerned for the man’s skyrocketing blood pressure, but that immediately disappeared when he heard, “I want that bastard captured and locked up yesterday!”

“Good talk, Nicky. We’ll have to do this again, sometime.” Tony quipped and hung up the call before the one-eyed director had a chance for a rebuttal. “Not.”

Besides, Thor mentioned Loki got an ‘innocent’ verdict from Asgardian court – at least he believed it was an Asgardian court since his knowledge of Norse court system was severely lacking. It wasn’t as if they – the humans – had a say in it anymore, considering they handed Loki over after the invasion incident.

“Well, good luck trying to capture him, I guess.” Tony muttered with a shrug while he grabbed a pair of scissors from his work desk. “It’s not my problem.”

He was not making a collage of Loki, _really_. He merely appreciated the whole bad-boy concept the Trickster God had going on in this pictorial.

________

Loki wanted to throw his cellphone towards the river before him.

He kept the infuriating device on silent due to its insistent ringing (which he then changed to vibrate) because it relentlessly disturbed him throughout his photo shoots, courtesy of Thor. It seemed the oaf finally learned how to text, and he unfortunately got to be on the receiving end of this nonsense. He utterly regretted giving his cellphone number to his brother… although he knew this would be happen when he handed the number to Thor.

Then again, he doesn’t have the nerve of steel to deny those puppy dog eyes the Thunder God directed at him.

“Thank goodness for small mercies that his pets don’t know my number.” Loki sighed grumpily upon receiving his cellphone from his manager at the end of the photo shoot.

“We both know that this whole mess amuses you, Loki. You’re waiting for the day when they will find you, via internet or otherwise.”

“Don’t be jealous that my awesome self has more fans than you, Býleistr.” He gave a sly grin to the older man, who scowled in response at his mocking tone. “You’re the one who insisted to Helblindi that you wanted to come with me, to get to know me and keep an eye on me because I’m too young to be by myself. However, your excuse was thoroughly lacking when we both know that you wanted to abscond from your duties. How dreadful of you to leave our brother, Helblindi, the King of Jötunheimr, by himself with his kingly duties. Shame on you.”

“Yeah, yeah, stop guilt tripping me, brat.” Býleistr grumbled with an exaggerated eye roll. “I still don’t understand why you chose this accursed job. It’s exhausting.”

Loki grinned wider at the exasperated tone while he unlocked his mobile device, and answered, “Well, I can’t make everyone kneel to my awesomeness by conquering this realm without repercussions –”

“Obviously. We all know what happened last time you tried to do it.”

“So, this is the next best thing, according to my extensive research.” He continued as if there weren’t any interruptions, but shot a warning look to indicate his ire. “These mortals can appreciate and kneel to my awesome self and beauty. Not to mention, they’re paying me for this.”

“Be careful, Loki. Your narcissism is showing.” Býleistr laughed at the response. “I’m surprised that you agreed to dye your hair into this chestnut brown color and have highlights on it. I would’ve thought you held dear to your original color. I still don’t understand why the mortals have so many different names to same shades of colors, and so many tiresome processes to changing shades to your hair.”

“They don’t have seiðr like we do. You know that.” Loki responded as if it was obvious, and grumbled, “It looks like a certain oaf is requesting my help. So, you’re on dinner duty tonight.”

He pointedly ignored the indignant look from the older Jötun while he stylized a reluctant response to Thor. He doesn’t understand why the Thunder God sought for his help in defeating whatever enemy the Avengers was fighting this time. Just because he ‘reformed’ (definitely not his words) and had magical prowess far superior than anyone else in Nine Realms, it does not mean that he wanted to become an Avenger or help them with their fights.

He had better things to do with his time than saving the world – like binge watching drama shows and appreciating their artistic abilities. Why else would he had dedicated extensive efforts in revolutionizing arts and theaters during his reign? In fact, the statue (of himself) he had his citizens built was to remind them of that deed… not anyone appreciated the beauty of it, curse them.

“I’ll come with you then. Someone needs to keep an eye on you so that you don’t overdo it, like usual.” Býleistr smirked with an amused look.

Loki gave an exaggerated eye roll at the supposed overprotectiveness. Just because he happened to be the ‘baby’ in the family – both in Asgard and in Jötunheimr – doesn’t mean he gave anyone permission to crowd around him and protect him from dangers.

And they wonder why elders named him as God of Mischief, he couldn’t help but thought with a sigh.

“I’m not a baby who needs handholding, thank you very much.” He reminded with mock politeness and equally mocking smile.

He faintly heard a long string of impolite choice words from his dear brother as he teleported away from the premise. He had _such_ polite family from both Asgard and Jötunheimr, and they wondered where he learned to be rude and a rebel.

Tsk, tsk.

________

Thor frowned as he threw Mjölnir at a row of robots, instantly stopping them in their tracks momentarily. It was irksome that neither he nor other Avengers could not put a stop of this madness at once. Their foe, Doctor von Doom, had somehow enchanted these robots to make them impervious to physical attacks, and his Mjölnir’s lightning abilities failed to be effective against these enemies.

Thus, he had to resort to seek help from his brother amid the battle – it was extremely difficult to text while he dodged and took cover from self-destructing robots. It was more bothersome when Loki failed to respond to those texts, behaving as if his messages were unsolicited correspondences.

He supposed if he were Loki, it might have seemed that way; however, this was a matter of life-and-death. Not that he would die from this ordeal, but his shield companions were not as robust as him.

“Why do I get the feeling that this is just like time when he shapeshifted into a snake to surprise me?” Thor grumbled under his breath while he typed another message to send.

“What do you mean, buddy? Do you want to explain that story to us or shall I search it up online?” Tony questioned in an amused tone.

“This is neither the place or the time, Tony.”

Thor was positive that such exasperated sternness was a tone that only Steve could manage. It was somewhat amusing if they were not in a dire situation. Still, he gathered they had a handful of spare seconds for him to regale the tale he brilliantly labeled as ‘Thor, Loki, and the Snake’. The title was a work in progress, but it was infinitely better than him calling it ‘That time Loki duped me as a snake and stabbed me’, which was a mouthful and revealed everything about the story.  

“There was one time when we were children, he transformed himself into a snake – and he knows that I love snakes.” Thor began with his tale regardless of their current predicament. He dismissed the disapproving look from Steve, and continued, “So, I went to pick up the snake to admire it. He transformed back into himself, and he was like, ‘Blergh! It’s me!’ and he stabbed me. We were eight at the time.”

He resisted the urge to chuckle at Steve’s horrified expression – this was funny no matter how many times he retold this tale. He couldn’t fathom how others looked, but he speculated that they looked just as shocked as their Captain.

“As funny as that story is, I don’t think we have time to exchange your childhood stories here.” Natasha reminded in a no-nonsense tone.

“Do we have a plan yet, Tony?” Steve inquired once more.

Whatever words Man of Iron was going to say instantly halted upon unnatural yet familiar rippling of mirrors on sides of towering buildings, almost as if mirror surfaces were water. Startled exclaims and queries noisily filled his earpiece, asking him and each other if they knew what was happening.

He did not bother to respond to them as he waited (impatiently) for the scene to pass.

Another ripple materialized in the middle of the building as unearthly smoke began to fill the premise to make its own special effects, and a familiar figure emerged from the portal. The figure, from what he could see, did not have that horned helmet – he would have liked a chance to make fun of that head gear. Perhaps, next time he would get that opportunity.

“Your savior is here!” Loki declared as dramatically and theatrically as possible.

It took Thor great resistance to not put a hand over his face at his brother’s exclamation. He certainly hoped that Man of Iron was fairing well since that choking noises he heard over others’ startled shouts sounded mildly alarming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony just happens to appreciate how good-looking Loki is in those pictures. He's not a fan, really. Seriously. Maybe. 
> 
> If everything goes accordingly, the next update will be next weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos, y'all. 
> 
> In the last chapter, I mentioned Loki being the God of Illusion instead of Trickery because I felt those two are the same thing, but the latter held a negative connotation. So, God of Illusion it is.

“Brother, that was utmost unnecessary.”

Thor made sure to display his displeasure at the theatrics with crossed arms and a frown, which may or may not have looked like Steve’s infamous disappointed look. Instead of looking thoroughly chastised, Loki unsurprisingly brushed away his rebuke with a flippant wave and seemingly flicked a glance at the oncoming Doom-Bots.

“Don’t tell me you called me because you couldn’t defeat these child’s toys. Have you been losing your touch, Thor?”

He shot an annoyed look for that remark, and grumbled out, “Those things have some sort of magical properties. It negated our physical assaults and my Mjölnir.”

Loki simply hummed as a response, but made no other indication to help; instead, his baby brother pulled out a cellphone as if to check for something.

He blinked a couple of times to ensure that he was not imagining the scene before him. He wasn’t – a certain God of Mischief indeed was busily looking through something on a cellphone amid the battlefield, which if he had to be honest, would have been alarming he did not know Loki's prowess.

“What are you doing, you bastard? This isn’t the time to be playing your mobile games or whatever.” Clint all but shouted from his left.

“Patience, Hawk.” Loki’s lips curled into an amused smirk, and pocketed the mobile device with alleged utmost reluctance. “I’m truly appalled by your lack of manners. I was in the middle of a photo shoot when you messaged me. You haven’t given me a chance to warm-up and you want me to defeat your enemy for you. Must I do everything around here?”

“Loki… cease with your stalling. And no, you cannot kill the mortal.”

An impatient Hawk looked ready to proclaim some choice words about how _helpful_ his brother was being (he already knew what the mortal was going to say) when sheets of mirrors materialized unexpectedly around the robots and their foe.

Thor faintly heard Doctor Doom blabbered some nonsense (most likely a villainous speech about how they will not win next time) from behind a mirror cage. With a snap of fingers from Loki, the mirrors and its contents shattered – all except the one entrapping the man behind the attack. He felt he should be somewhat grateful that his brother, at least, listened to his warning about leaving the mortal alive.

“Now then, whatever shall I do with him?” Loki questioned bemusedly while walking towards that container.

“Wow, Rudolph, this has to be a record. You managed to neutralize the threat in less than five minutes.” Tony commented with a low whistle. “And do you mind explaining to the rest of us mortals why you decided to be a model? Not that I mind, because damn, you look hot. By the way, how do you feel about a threesome with me and Pepper? And do you think she’ll mind? Better yet, do you mind?”

Thor covered up an amused snort with a cough, and heard Natasha uttered a, “Stark, stop thinking with your libido,” in a sharp tone.

Loki deemed that Man of Iron’s commentary didn't need a proper response, and instead said, “You know, Thor, Mother would be appalled to learn that you cannot rout such rudimentary spell. Mayhap you need extra lessons from her since you seemed to have forgotten that you are the God of Thunder and Storms, and as such, you can overpower these weak magic enforcers. Or did you forget how to conjure those spells too?”

He didn’t want to admit that he had, indeed, forgotten about his magical abilities, or that he panicked when Mjölnir failed to obliterate the robots and immediately called Loki for help. Rather than admitting to those faults, he replied with a, “Your control of seiðr is better than me, brother.”

The Trickster God hummed unconvincingly in answer and conjured a fish bowl half-full of water.

“What are you doing with that, Loki?” Steve questioned confusingly.

A mischievous yet maniacal grin was the only warning he and the other received before a certain Doctor Doom’s mortal form transmuted into a Midgardian frog, which croaked indignantly in retaliation. Loki frowned at the noise with a displeased expression, and a burst of emerald green glows erupted from the frog before its form changed into a Midgardian gold fish that floundered rather pathetically on land.

“That was rather anticlimactic.” Tony commented while peering at the flopping fish. “Why a fish?”

“The other creature was making too much noises. Besides, if this fish dares to misbehave before this spell finished running its course, I’m sure we can turn it into a worthy meal. Not that it would be enough to sustain us, but I suppose the thought counts.”

Thor could only sigh exasperatedly his brother’s mischief, and the startled expressions from his shield companions. He then heard various forms of inquiries asking if the younger God previously withheld the ability to transmute people into animals.

“He once turned me into a dog for some days when we were nine, just to see if my so-called puppy dog eyes are effective in that form.” He confessed with a mock exasperation.

“It's merely for research purposes. You turned back to yourself two days later.”

He repressed a grin at the appalled and stunned expressions from his shield companions – particularly Bruce whose mouth was agape. “On his tenth name day, Loki created Fenrir with his seiðr just because he could. Father forbade him from having Fenrir as his pet, however. He didn’t want to hear that despite my telling him that he’s too young to take care of a pet, and that he should just listen to Father. I woke up the next morning as a puppy and ended up running away from Fenrir, who thought that I was playing chase with him. It was most ignominious experience ever. To this day, we still don't know how Loki managed to convince Father.”

 “It was only for three days, brother. Besides, Fenrir thought of the world of you and was utmost disappointed when you weren’t his playmate anymore.” Loki quipped with a mischievous grin.

“Wasn’t Fenrir your kid, Loki?” Tony questioned in puzzled. “Our mythology didn’t say anything about Fenrir being your pet.”

“Your mythology was wrong about many things.” His brother replied without offering a detailed clarification.

“What about that eight-legged horse, Sleipnir? How much of it was true?”

Thor gave a wry grimace at the inquiry, and shot an apologetic look towards his brother. The conception of his nephew was still a difficult topic for his family – one that they didn't want to bring up if they could help it.

“What about him?” Loki responded with a nonchalant mask, and continued before the topic could escalate further, “As much as I would love to explain the truth behind your mythology about me, I have a drama show to catch before the episode finishes. I also have an early photo shoot tomorrow, so I need my eight-hours of beauty sleep to achieve this perfection. You can decide what you want to do with this fish amongst yourselves. The curse will last five days.”

The Trickster God didn't give them a chance for rebuttals and simply disappeared in thin air.

“Now, we know there is a juicy story behind that for sure.” Tony declared with wiggling brows and a triumphant look.

“It's none of our business, Tony.” Steve chided with a disapproving expression. “More importantly, what are we going to do with Doctor Doom?”

“I’m not taking care of the damn thing, that’s for sure.” Clint interjected before anyone could say a word. “I’d say it’s going straight to an aquarium. Or a pet store. Or the ocean.”

“Well, that sounds like a better idea than what I had in mind.” Tony replied with a cheeky grin. “I was going to see where the fish would go if I flushed it down the toilet.”

Natasha raised a delicate brow and retaliated with a, “What are you, five?”

Thor decided not to mention the panicked expression on the fish’s face to anyone. In fact, he didn’t utter a word when his shield companions ultimately decided to drop it off at an ocean nearby. It was better than leaving it at an aquarium since the spell would only last for five days, and they didn’t want to explain to the aquarium’s staffs about why a fish turned into Doctor Doom.

________

“By Odin's beard, _stop_ calling me every two minutes, Thor! What part of ‘today is my free day and I want to rest', can you not comprehend?”

Tony blinked in confusion upon walking into the common room and saw Loki glowering at the amused Thunder God who held a cellphone in one hand. It was surreal how the others didn't look surprised by the Trickster God’s sudden appearance, and simply gave a nod of acknowledgment at the new addition to their group.

He raised a quizzical brow at the others, receiving a small shrug from Natasha (which he read the gesture as ‘this is a normal thing now’), as he watched Loki casually lounged on his couch as if the Trickster God owned it. In fact, he daresay it was sinful how masterful Loki looked draped on his couch while leisurely browsing through one of his sports car magazines. It looked as if Loki had been there for several times previously instead of just appearing there mere seconds ago - at least someone was making themselves at home. 

“Rock of Ages, fancy seeing you again. It’s been, what, two weeks? How's the life of a super model?” He greeted nonchalantly, trying to sound casual as if Loki's domestic appearance (if that loungewear indicated anything) doesn’t surprise him.

“Stark, my brother is going to stay here from now on.” Thor interjected into the conversation.

He stared at the two Gods momentarily, trying to process the information thrown at his face, and finally managed to form coherent thoughts to say, “What?”

“Thor, you oaf, I told you I’m perfectly fine by myself. What part of that statement do you fail to comprehend?” He doesn’t understand why Loki looked irked despite his calm tone.  

Perhaps, the Thunder God was being overbearing and overprotective – not that he would understand since he had been an only child growing up.

“The part where you’re by yourself. I didn’t say anything last time because Býleistr was with you.” Thor replied dryly with an exaggerated eye roll that reminded him of… well, himself. “Since he’s gone back to Jötunheimr for his duties per King Helblindi’s order, I don’t trust you by yourself. Besides, you mentioned that your agency requested for you to participate in a week-long show in New York. You didn’t want to stay at the lounging your agency provided with other models, and didn’t want to look for another lounging when you can live here for free.”

“Huh, I can't believe you listened to my rant. And I wasn’t serious about living here. It was a joke. Do you not understand what jokes mean?” Loki argued with a tongue click. “Why would I want to live here with you when I was adamant about living separately in the beginning? Were you not listening to me, Thor?”

“Aw, you don't like living with us? I thought you liked us since we've shared meals and movie nights.” Clint added mockingly.

“You certainly didn’t mind coming and going here as you please.” Thor chimed in. 

Tony decided to leave the two bickering Gods to their discussion to get himself that much needed cup of coffee. It was too early to function without a cup of caffeine in his system.

More importantly, when had Loki come for dinner and movie nights? Also, since when did Clint and Loki decided to get along with one another? How did he miss that development? Maybe he should stop being in his workshop for longer periods and interact with the world.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he could stop Loki even if he wanted to, especially when he remembered how the Trickster God emerged from mirrors two weeks ago like it was nothing. He spent hours upon hours in the lab with Bruce to decipher the science behind it (not magic, mind you), and the two of them still couldn’t reach a proper conclusion.

He doesn’t want to believe that it was magic. He refused to believe that. After all, Thor said magic was an unexplained science wherein mortals didn't have proper variables to solve its equations yet.

Speaking of the Gods…

He walked back into the common room, just in time to hear Loki say, “That’s only because you kept messaging me every two minutes.”

“Maybe it was a bad idea to teach Thor how to text.” Clint added conspiringly to Bruce.

“It's too late to regret that now, Clint. The damage has been done.” His Science Bro replied.

“I wouldn’t do that if you lived here like I suggested in the beginning. It's easier to converse face-to-face.” Thor retaliated with a huff as if there weren't any interruptions. “I’m worried about you, brother – especially when you’re living by yourself in an unknown realm.”

“Oh no, don’t turn that on me, Thor, just because I haven’t reached my majority yet. We both know I'm the responsible one between the two of us. Moreover, you were perfectly fine gallivanting to dangerous realms in search for an adventure, dragging me with you despite my protests. Yet, here you are, trying to stop me from living my life in Midgard where there’s no magic or dangerous creatures. Do not be a hypocrite, brother.” Loki rebutted with narrowed eyes and continued before the older God could interject. “Nevertheless, you still drag me into your battles and expect me to clean up after you. I was – am – perfectly fine with staying away from the battles, doing my own thing.”

“You need to get out more and socialize, Loki. Where is your sense of adventure?”

“We all know what happened when I went to search for an adventure last time.” The Trickster God replied dryly in a deadpanned tone. “I highly doubt we need a repeat of that.”

“Besides, I don’t think Stark and others mind your presence, brother. This way, it’d be much easier for me to call upon your help with our foes.” Thor commented with a grin.

“Our foes? _Our_ foes? They’re not my enemies, Thor.” Loki all but screeched dramatically with narrowed eyes. “I won’t help you do your job for you. I have enough to do as it is, and I don’t need your workload added to mine.”

The Thunder God simply smirked and stated ominously, “We’ll see, dear brother.”

“I'm not an Avenger, Thor!”

“You don't need to be an Avenger to save the world, Loki. Stark, a room for my brother, please.” Thor all but demanded and insisted despite the Trickster God's protests.

Tony decided to go along with the changes since he couldn’t deny Thor even if he wanted to. It was better to allow Loki access to a bedroom if the God was going to practically stay here due to Thor's insistence. It certainly was not so that he could openly stare at the Trickster God whenever he got a chance. Or so that he could ask JARVIS to snap pictures for his private viewing later.

Those certainly wasn’t the reasons.

“Well, I do have extra guest bedrooms. JARVIS can assist you with that, Reindeer Games.”

“I'm not staying here. I’m serious.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like there should be a Domestic Avengers tag with the way this chapter went, haha... Next chapter will be up either tomorrow or Sunday. I'm trying to keep the updates on the weekend, but we'll have to see if I can uphold to that schedule.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added Fanboy Tony tag because that is going to be a thing. Yep.
> 
> Also I'm changing the mythology to suit this fic, just because I can... and because Loki's backstory from Marvel has so much sadness. I wanted it to suit 'Loki is a god' tag.

Loki all but glowered at his brother, who pointedly dismissed his displeasure, so he decided to direct his ire towards a certain snickering Anthony (he refused to call the man ‘Tony’ simply because he was peculiar like that) and an amused Hawk. The two happened to have the unfortunate luck of sitting across from him – not that he believed such occurrence was unfortunate. If anything, they should be glad to bask in his awesome presence.  

“I thought you weren’t staying here.” Clint pointed out with amusement laced in that tone.

“I wasn’t.” He bit out with an angry hiss and glared at Thor. “I’m only here for the fashion week, and I am not going to help you with avenging and whatever nonsense you do as Avengers.”

“Speaking of fashion week, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re a model. How did that come about, anyway? Better yet, why don’t you explain to us why you chose the name Lukas Skywalker? You’re ruining _Star Wars_.” Tony quipped continuously without a pause for breath.

He blinked in puzzle at the questions, mildly amused by Anthony’s line of thoughts, and smirked at the man’s flitted gaze. He silently took a sip of tea to gather his thoughts, but shifted his gaze to other occupants around the table – it seemed they were just as interested in his explanation as Anthony.

“Mayhap you have heard of me being a Skywalker in your mythology.” Loki began with an amused expression, and continued when he received nods in response, “Lukas is just another variation of my name. So… no, Anthony, I did not ruin _Star Wars_ – if anything, they copied my name.”

“And being a model?” Natasha raised a delicate brow at the inquiry.

“I’m just making them kneel before my awesome self.”

“Loki…” Thor bemoaned at his reply with exasperated fondness. “Stop getting into such mischief.”

He sniffed daintily and shot a scowl at his brother, “You’re just jealous, Thor, that I'm putting my skills to such beneficial use.”

“Brother, it doesn't take much skills to stand there and have someone take pictures of you.”

“Thor, buddy, you did not just dissed modeling.” Tony interjected with a dramatic gasp. “Besides, have you seen Rock of Ages’ pictures?”

“Stark, are you a fan?” Loki interrupted with a raised brow.

An amused smirk danced on his lips when Anthony sputtered denials with wild hand gestures, which he pointedly ignored in favor of sipping on his cup of tea. It was quite amusing to see the usually composed billionaire in such disarray especially when the topic concerned him. This behavior needs a thorough investigation – that is, if he wasn’t being lethargic about doing such thing.

“—Then what about those magazines of our former villain you’ve subscribed?” Clint questioned with a wide smirk. “Didn’t think we’d know about that, did you?”

“I once found a collage of Loki’s pictures from various magazines in the workshop. It was laminated.” Bruce added with amused glints.

“Friend Tony, what are your intentions with my baby brother?”

Loki chuckled inwardly at the frantic expression on Anthony’s face, and interjected with a, “As much fun as this conversation has been, I must get ready for the rehearsal before I am tardy. And Anthony, we must exchange words about your certain… hobby concerning me.”

He left the premise before anyone could utter some choice words, and snickered under his breath when he remembered the frantic and panicked eyes of a certain billionaire at the revelation of being his fan. It was disheartening that he wouldn’t be present for the rest of ‘grilling’, so to speak, due to his work.

“Well, I’ll just have to see what else he has in his collection in regard to me when I get back.”

________

It relieved Tony that he didn’t see the Trickster God anywhere in the tower for nearly a week. He asked JARVIS for the whereabouts of Loki, not because he wanted to attempt to sneak taking pictures (he does, but he had self-control, thank you very much), but the God had all but disappeared from the premise. He didn’t know how to face Loki after other members embarrassed him with their knowledge about his recent… hobby. He had no idea how they found out – then again, he supposed it was self-explanatory considering that two of those members were spies.

It shouldn't have startled him to see the Trickster God in a casual attire (a black sleeveless tee with gray sweatpants) walking into the common room, but it did. He nearly drooled when he noted that Loki’s long hair was in a half-bun – it was sinful for someone to look that tantalizing.

“Loki.” He coughed to cover up his startled squeak, but he knew the God had heard him judging from that amused smirk.

“Stark. Take a picture, it'll last longer.”

The amused glint in Loki's eyes made him suddenly remember that the being before him happened to be the God of Mischief, and he unfortunately was on the receiving end of it.

“So, how was the fashion show?” Tony decided to change the subject abruptly and cleared his throat to disguise his embarrassment. “Thor was moaning about how he couldn't attend because you didn’t give him the ticket. I'm surprised that it could be sold out.”

“He would've embarrassed me if he went, so I didn’t bother to invite him.” Loki responded in a flippant way with a shrug. 

“I would not have, brother!”

He jumped in startled upon hearing Thor's protest, and blinked in confusion when he saw the Thunder God's imitation of Steve's infamous I'm-disappointed-in-you stare. He inwardly pondered _when_ the older God had learned to pull off that kind of expression.

“Yes, you would have, you oaf.” Loki retaliated with a dramatic eye roll, and strolled purposefully into the common room. “Mind telling me why you called me here _again_? I do have better things to do than constantly traveling back and forth.”

“Loki, you would’ve just sat in your home to watch drama shows.” Thor responded just as nonchalantly with a hand wave to dismiss the gaping expression on the younger God. “We need your expertise on a matter.”

Tony pursed his lips from blurting out something incriminating (like ‘You’re a homebody who watch daytime soap operas?’), and decided to take a loud sip of his coffee instead. He wasn’t going to embarrass himself any further, if he could help it.

“And why should I help you?” Loki looked thoroughly displeased expression.

“Because you’d want to know that someone tried to awaken Jörmungandr to do their bidding.” Thor explained grimly, and continued when the younger God prompted with a raised brow, “Heimdall came to warn me that someone attempted to enter the Gate of Midgard three days prior.”

“I speculate that they weren’t successful in their endeavor.” The Trickster God concluded with a small smirk.

“Quick question – is Jör – however you pronounce that name – your son?” Tony had to interject, and pointed dismissed other Avengers’ (mostly Steve’s) exasperated expressions about his priorities.

Thor chuckled at the inquiry and decided to answer instead, “Friend Tony, my brother has yet to bed a maiden or anyone for that matter in all centuries I've known him.”

“You’re virgin?” Clint blurted out in disbelief with startled look.

“That’s utterly irrelevant, don’t you think?” Loki cut in sharply with a scowl, and continued only after seeing a thoroughly chastised look on Thor’s face. “Jörmungandr is a protector to Midgard that I created with my seiðr. Midgard, for all its backwater ways, is still in its infancy compared to other Realms. An invasion from one of the Nine Realms or from anything beyond the Nine could easily obliterate it. Considering that Asgard has the duty to protect the Nine Realms, especially more so when Father left the Tesseract here, I decided to create Jörmungandr to be Midgard’s protector.”

“You created him?” Tony only gaped at the explanation. “Just how strong are you, Reindeer Games?”

“Isn’t he a sea serpent?” Bruce inquired with furrowed brows. “Our mythology says that he is a sea serpent large enough to wrap Earth many times over.”

“Jörmungandr is a shapeshifter.” Loki supplied with a smirk, but didn’t bother to offer detailed explanation any further. “Besides, he has enough prowess to dissuade anyone who tried to awaken him to use him. He has been feeding on Midgard’s seiðr for centuries, and their powers and elements would be under his control now.”

“But what if this enemy managed to get him? How would we be able to defeat Jör?” Steve added with a frown.

“Please, Jörmungandr has been defending your Realm from outside invaders for centuries. He’s not easily taken down from whomever is your nemesis.” The Trickster God all but scoffed at the inquiries as if the concerns were outlandish. “Isn’t it your job to find out who is behind this nonsense, and put a stop to it? You are called _Avengers_ for a reason, aren’t you?”

“Brother, you will be joining us in this fight, won’t you?” Thor’s question sounded more like a demand, and the irked frown on Loki’s face indicated the displeasure of such demand.

“Of course not, you oaf. I’m not an Avenger, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be one.” The Trickster God shot down the idea immediately. “I have better things to do than saving the world from whatever enemy this is.”

“And that is?” Natasha gave a pointed look that could make a grown-man cowed in fear.

“Sitting in my loungewear and watching drama shows, and occasionally being a model.” Loki replied as if this was the most important agenda in comparison to saving the world. “Besides, you have my oaf of a brother in your roster, you’ll be fine. Leave me out of this nonsense, will you?”

________

Suffice to say, they were not fine.

Tony let out a string of curses as he dodged mystical blasts and force fields from a certain villain who turned into gold fish a week prior. He ignored Steve’s chastise of, “Language, Tony!” from his communication device as he busily dodged the oncoming attacks.

The day started normal too – he was busy tinkering in his lab with Bruce, trying to locate this Gate of Midgard as per Thor’s request. The ‘Heart of Earth’ was such a vague answer that it was difficult to discern its location, and he certainly wasn’t going to ask a certain former neurosurgeon turned sorcerer either. He had his pride, dammit.

It all went downhill when Director Fury called about an attack in Queens from a madman, Doctor Doom, who unleashed myriads of magical robots that could brainwash people.

“Seriously, we just turned him into a gold fish two weeks ago. Didn’t he learn his lesson?” Tony complained to his comrades.

“Apparently not.” Clint scoffed with a tongue click. “How the hell did he gained abilities to brainwash people? Did he learn from Loki?”

“My brother doesn’t know mind control.” Thor supplied with a frown directed at Clint. “It was the Tesseract who gave him the powers.”

“Boys, we can discuss about Loki’s powers another time. How are we going to defeat him this time?” Natasha interjected into the conversation.

From blasting the robots with his repulsor rays to smashing it with Mjölnir and Captain America’s shield, the robots kept coming endlessly. It was as if they destroyed one, three more appeared in its place – it doesn’t help that Thor’s godly thunder prowess only helped increased their power supplies.

Seriously, they need to come up with a plan to overcome that weakness sometime soon.

“I’m all for ideas, guys.” Tony remarked as he narrowly dodged another blast from one of the robots.

“I shall have to call in Loki to see if he could defeat these foes. He is better at sorcery than I am.” Thor commented, pulling out something from a pocket and crashing the item singlehandedly.

Two sheets of mirrors materialized in the middle of the battlefield, halting the fight momentarily as it slowly separated vertically. A portal appeared the space of its separation until a figure emerged from it. Unlike the first time, there was no dramatic smokescreen or the theatric “Your savior is here!” declaration – no, this time, it was just a shadowed threatening figure of Loki that emerged from the portal.

It took Tony a few seconds to realize that the scowling expression on Loki’s face was harmless, especially when paired with a black pajama pants and a gray tee with a snoozing Hello Kitty with ‘Five More Minutes’ printed on it.

“For goodness sake, Thor, it’s 3AM where I was. Stop calling me to clean up your mess at such hours.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, Doom ended up being the antagonist who plays a bigger role than before. Oops.

Tony bit back a curse as he dodged another wave of brainwashing robots, mindful of their energy rays that could brainwash him, and attacked them with his repulsor rays. The assault merely blasted the robots back a couple of feet and did not do anything to destroy them at all. It was frustrating and tiring that there was no end in sight, especially when neither he nor his teammates knew the solution out of this mess.

He doesn’t know why it relieved him when Thor summoned Loki to help them with the battle, but it did. Perhaps, such feeling was due to the Trickster God’s five-second win in the last battle. It was astonishing and frightening to know that Loki (of all people) made him feel safe merely by standing there.

“Reindeer Games! Are you a sight for sore eyes!”

“So, you managed to get yourselves in trouble.” Loki commented in a deadpanned tone, sounding quite like Steve’s PSA announcements.

He looked over to see that the Trickster was daintily sitting on a slab of debris, looking uncaring about the mayhem happening around the premise. In fact, it was quite strange how the attacks missed the younger God – it was almost as if there was force field of protection around that area. It wouldn't surprise him if there was one.

“And you want me to get you out of this mess. Again.”

“Please brother, I know you have much to do, and you don’t want to partake in this. This foe mentioned that he managed to weaken the Gate of Midgard. You’re the only one in Nine Realms that I know who can check and secure the Gate.” Thor remarked pleadingly.

“I’m not someone you can summon whenever you’re in trouble, Thor.” Loki grumbled with a deep sigh.

“If you’re helping us, Rock of Ages, we’d be extremely grateful if it’s any day now.” Tony called out while he dodged the onslaught of attacks.

The Trickster God gave him a flat yet unimpressed look in retaliation, but stood up from that spot with utmost reluctance. In a burst of green lights, the Hello Kitty pajama set transformed into a white shirt, a pair of black leather pants, and a black trench coat with ruby red cuffs.

The cold yet serious expression on Loki’s expression made whatever commentaries Tony had disappear regarding the sudden attire change. He wanted remark how the outfit made the Trickster God looked like a pirate, and question if the idea stemmed from seeing _Pirates of the Caribbean_ … that is, if the God had seen that movie.

He landed on the ground next to Steve as he watched Loki walked towards the robots with refined confidence. The Trickster God then raised an arm in a graceful yet fluid movement, and with no warnings whatsoever, his entire being burst into flame in the form of a bird (perhaps, a phoenix?) in an instant.

It was a bewildering experience, especially when Tony realized that things weren’t hot and smoldering. In fact, the air didn’t feel suffocating even when he and others mere feet away from the blaze. The only things afire were those in the forefront of Loki’s attack – the robots, roads, and buildings melted from the attack within seconds almost akin to a butter being in a hot pan.  

“Such sight reminds me that my brother is, indeed, God of Fire.” Thor remarked with a wry chuckle. “Sometimes, I forget that he is one when he often uses illusions and trickery in his combat.”

Witty commentaries died on the tip of his tongue once more when the fiery phoenix rushed towards Doctor Doom, who yelled out muffled words that they couldn't decipher and made the fire disintegrate in a burst of red light.

“How can that be?” Thor exclaimed alarmingly, and threw Mjölnir alighted with lightning towards their foe.

A box immediately enclosed around Doctor Doom, just seconds before bursts of lightning rained down on the man. Sparkles of red light flared from the containment amid the attack, causing the Thunder God to cease the assault to decipher what was happening. When the lights and smoke died down, the only evidence that someone had been there was burnt marks on the ground.

“Where did he go? How could he have disappeared?” Clint shot the questions in rapid succession.

“It seems your foe managed to obtain a portion of powers from Heart of Midgard – otherwise known as Reality Stone, one of six Infinity Stones.” Loki explained and snapped his fingers.

The wrecked roads and properties shifted back into its pristine state as if nothing had occurred at all. It reminded Tony once more that the being standing before him was, and is, indeed a God.

“Are you sure you're not mistaken, Loki?” Thor questioned with a frown. “We've given Aether to the Collector for safekeeping. How could have Doom obtained it by his attempt to open Gate of Midgard?”

“Mayhap you ought to check for your Lady Jane’s safety.” The younger God responded almost nonchalantly with a raised brow. “We may have extracted its power from her, but she was its vessel for a period.”

“Some of Aether’s powers might linger within her that Doom could manipulate.” Thor concluded with aghast realization. “I must go to her posthaste!”

“We also need to inform Fury about what’s happening as well. We’re not dealing with random attacks anymore since Doom brought in otherworldly powers into play.” Natasha cut in.

“Thor, meet us back at the compound once you’ve checked in on Dr. Foster.” Steve instructed with a nod. “We’ll begin planning on our next move. Loki –”

Loki gave a deadpanned look in response, and uttered, “I’m sorry, Captain, but I am not in your merry band of heroes. I will examine the structural integrity of Gate of Midgard and strengthen its runes, if needed. I will even inform you of what you will be facing since I am feeling generous, but that is as far as I will go.”

“But Reindeer Games, you’re the only one who can crush Doom before he grows stronger.”

“There is no merit for me to assist you.”

“Midgard could be in trouble, brother! This is not the time for you to be selfish.” Thor interjected with a glower, and shot a look when Loki was about to rebut. “We gave our solemn promise to protect Midgard from outside forces, Loki. This includes the works of Infinity Stones, or have you forgotten that?”

“ _You_ gave your promise, Thor. You as an Aesir.” Loki corrected coolly and gave a pointed look when the Thunder God was about to refute. “I, on the other hand, did not. I am, above all, a Jötun who beholds the title of God of Chaos and Change amongst others. I cannot continually intercept to impede the flow of changes from happening just because I could.”

“You cannot, or you wouldn’t? These are two different things, brother.” The older God inquired with narrowed eyes.

Tony gulped at the blatant accusatory tone from Thor, and nervously looked over to the younger God, who looked downright incensed. He supposed he would be too if he had to wake up at ungodly hours to help with a battle, and then received such accusation.

“Unlike you, brother, I don’t play favorites. There are guidelines I must adhere to, which you wouldn’t know because you are not Jötun.” The Trickster God responded with cold indifference, and tossed an item at Thor. “I will see you back at the compound once I finished on my end. That item will transport you to your mortal – once you have ensured her safety, it will transport you back to the meeting location.”

“Sorry, buddy. I would be mad if I were in his place too.” Tony quipped unhelpfully with a shrug. “I don’t want to save the world before my first cup of coffee either, and it was only 3AM where he was. So, it’s only understandable that he’s cranky.”

“Stark, my brother abhors coffee.” Thor replied dryly, and seemed to dismiss his melodramatic gasp. “He drinks tea like you drink your coffee and alcohol beverages.”

“Blasphemy! Coffee is the best drink ever made!”

________

Tony was positive he could cut the tension with a butter knife. It didn’t help that Thor was behaving like a sullen puppy – he may not know the actual reason, but he speculated that the reason had to do with Jane Foster. Sitting across from the Thunder God was Fury, who looked livid by the news of the attack and Loki’s involvement. He supposed this sort of action was because Fury doesn’t understand the true power and had a bias against the Trickster God.

“Where the hell is he?”

“He went to check on Gate of Midgard, Nicky.” He replied cheekily while he drummed the table impatiently. “I have no idea where that is, if you’re curious. How about you, Thor?”

The Thunder God shrugged in response, “I do not possess enough seiðr to travel there, Stark.”

“From what we know,” Tony skillfully cut off whatever Fury was about to say, and blithely dismissed the glowering expression from the older man. “Doom managed to his paws on a portion of Reality Stone. We don’t know what it truly does, but from the battle, he possessed some teleportation powers. Thor, do you have any idea what it does?”

“It allows its user to control dark matters, and at its full power, one can manipulate reality.”

“What the hell does that means? I need you to explain it in detail, so we know what we are up against.” Fury all but growled out.

“My apologies, Man of Fury, but this is something my brother is more knowledgeable of than I am.”

“I suppose he would know since he used it to safeguard our planet, if what I understood is right.” Clint grumbled begrudgingly with crossed arms.

“Safeguard our planet? That bastard is the one who invaded New York!” Fury retaliated angrily with a table slam. “He led those aliens right to our doorsteps!”

A crossed expression instantly etched on Thor’s face at the mention of Battle of New York, and rumbled out, “Mind your tongue, mortal. You had no idea what my brother endured after he let go from the Bifrost and when he was in the hands of Mad Titan. A decade may be a blink of an eye for us, but it’s laughable if you truly believe one can walk away from torture of that length without any repercussions.”

Tony took a long sip of his coffee as he flicked his gaze to the clenched jaws of Fury, and exhaled exasperatedly when the older man looked ready to refute. “Look, Nicky,” he interjected before anyone could utter a word. “We’re not here to talk about what had already happened. We have a new threat, and the only one who has information on this new power Doom obtained is Loki. Why don’t we all play nice, hmm?”

“He sure is taking his time.” Clint grumbled with a scowl. “You sure he didn’t abandon us?”

Thor looked ready to defend the younger God when his glass windows rippled in waves, just seconds before a portal materialize in its middle. Loki emerged within a couple of seconds while casually tying that long hair in a loose ponytail. It was mesmerizing how that hairstyle change made the God looked older.

The Trickster God glanced around the room, most likely surveying the scene, and then wordlessly sat down next to him and Bruce. “My apologies for the delay. I needed to strengthen the runes protecting the Heart of Midgard and its Gate.”

“How does it fare, brother?”

“It's nothing but a mild nuisance, really. Your foe managed to tap into a portion of Aether before Jörmungandr stopped him.” Loki waves away the concern, and paused to conjure a cup of tea. “What news do you have of your mortal, Thor?”

“Lady Darcy told me Lady Jane had been missing for 2 days now.”

Tony inwardly noted that Loki didn’t look surprised by the news, and simply hummed in response. It was almost as if the God had been expecting this.

“We need to get her back.” Steve declared firmly before Thor could utter those words. “What can you tell us about Doom's new powers?”

Loki wordlessly took another sip of his tea, clearly ignoring the agitated look on Fury’s face, and placed the teacup on the table with an audible ‘clank’ that somehow managed to echo in the room. The God then flicked a glance at them with a dangerous smirk etching on the corner of those lips – that expression alone instantly changed the room’s atmosphere into one of seriousness.

“This isn’t something you can crudely toss a nuclear weaponry and call it a day.” The Trickster God gave a pointed look towards Fury with a cold smirk, reminding them once more of the Battle of New York. “You need to ensure that your foe does not – I repeat, _does not_ – obtain full powers of Heart of Midgard. For now, he is capable of teleportation, which essentially warps the reality around him. Given that your foe can use magic, at its full powers, he would be able to resurrect the dead, distort reality, and create any type of alternate reality he wishes.”

“How could he obtain the full powers of Heart of Midgard?” Bruce inquired.

“It would be extremely difficult for him, considering its guardian is on full alert and the protection runes are in its pristine condition.”

That answer somehow seemed like a deflection to the question.

“I highly suggest you retrieve Jane Foster from her captivity before your foe could extract remnants of Aether from her person.” Loki paused to take a sip of the tea, and then continued, “And for the love of all that is good and fun, Thor, you know where I stand on this matter. Do not seek for my help unless it’s for an exceptionally dire situation. I am not a wish granting God nor am I in your band of heroes.”

“But brother -”

“No, Thor. I cannot fight your battles for you, however much it pains you to hear this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Different names of Reality Stone thus far include: Heart of Midgard, Aether


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is turning into the whole "Thor is trying to be a good brother, but is failing at it because he cannot understand Loki" kind of story. But he is trying! Really. 
> 
> Also, enter Fenrir, because Loki doesn't want to deal with Thor and his shenanigans.

Clint didn’t want to admit to anyone, but the vibe around the meeting room felt dangerous – especially when he dared to glance at the two Gods sitting across from him. He wanted to say that Thor was the more dangerous of the two, more so when he accounted the rumbling clouds outside that matched with the God’s outraged expression. However, it was Loki’s blank visage that sent various warning alarms ringing in the back of his mind.

He doesn’t know what the younger God was thinking, and that scared him. Even with just a glance, he knew that he was staring at an entirely different Loki than the one he came to know when the Trickster God visited during their movie nights. It wasn’t his prank buddy that he was looking at (yes, they were prank buddies; and he would fight anyone who says otherwise), but an actual God that could transmute them into animals with a flick of a wrist.

“Brother, I do not understand. You have the powers and abilities to ensure this realm’s safety, yet you chose to forsake its people.” Thor pleaded once more with knitted brows.

“I cannot intercept every time there is a conflict, a battle, a war in the Nine Realms, Thor.” Loki replied while leaning back with arms crossed, looking like every bit like an indifferent God. “While it is true that I withhold the powers and ability to resolve this, I will not.”

“Why the hell not?” Fury interjected crossly with a frown. “You’re the one who brought this upon us.”

The Trickster God looked steely at the older man and said, “Several reasons, actually. One:  I do not appreciate such accusations when my powers are the sole reason why outside invaders haven’t accosted this realm. I’ve created Jörmungandr to protect this realm from outside forces when Father left the Tesseract here. I would say he has done a splendid job considering none of you are aware of life outside your realm. However, if you think you have enough ammunitions and intelligence to forgo my protection, I will gladly step back and let you protect this realm yourselves. Two: You sought for my help, yet I haven’t a word of gratitude or appreciation. I may be present in this realm due to my banishment, but I have better things to do than to assist your ungrateful selves. Three: I may be your brother, but I will not be beckon to your whims. It’s high time you resolve your own problems, Thor. You proclaim to be Midgard’s protector, so act like it.”

Tony let out a low whistle, sounding thoroughly impressed by those words to say, “Damn, Rudolph, you’re so savage. How can you look so sexy when you look angry?”

“Tony… please, this is not the time that.” Steve groaned, to which the mentioned person merely gave a cheeky grin in response. The Captain then looked at Loki, “We might not have expressed our gratitude, but we do appreciate your help, Loki. Truly. We might not be here if it wasn’t for your assistance.”

It doesn’t surprise him when they received a thoroughly unconvinced and blasé look in response.

“Gentlemen, we need to start thinking of possible locations where Doom took Dr. Foster.” Natasha interjected, getting right into business. “We still don’t know what he wants with her.”

“She has remnants of Aether in her person, so it is highly probable that he will be using a spell of sorts to extract it from her.” Loki replied, sounding as if it was a simple matter.

“Can you give us any clues to where to start?” Clint decided to ask before anyone could say otherwise.

“Latveria, for starters. If he’s not there, I’d look for locations that withhold high magical signatures.” The Trickster God replied in a bored tone. “Don’t tell me you cannot accomplishment these tasks by yourselves.”

He bit the bottom of his lips from saying something stupid to those taunts, especially when whatever he was itching to say would result him in turning into an animal of some sort. Yeah, he definitely doesn’t want to spend the next five days as a fish… that is, if he gets turned into a fish.

However, that did not stop Fury from saying, “And you would know where to find him, wouldn’t you?” with a sneer.

Clint felt the sudden chill in the room when Loki smiled almost mockingly at the director while looking every bit poised like a royalty.

“Fenrir.”

He jumped in startled when a figure soundlessly materialized from out of nowhere and knelt a couple of feet away from Loki – it was as if he was watching a ninja appeared from a trap door. Only, he knew this room did not have any trap doors. It boggled his mind that he and the others were dealing with beings with magic on a daily occurrence since Thor arrived with Loki, as if it was breathing.

Clint silently noted that this being had grayish blue hair, and sharp yet mirthful amber colored eyes reminded him of a wolf. The black long-sleeved undershirt, white hooded jacket, and white pants induced ethereal yet unsuspecting look. If he did not know that this was an otherworldly being, he would have speculated that this newcomer was another human being.

“Yes, Loki?”

Loki stood up to regard their newcomer with a smirked, “Good call on taking on an Aesir look, pet. I presume you’ve heard from Jörmungandr about what has transpired?”

“Yes, Master Loki.” Fenrir’s demure response and submissive posture contrasted with a playful smirk etched on the corner of those lips.

“Rise, my dear. I gave you permission to address by my name many centuries ago, did I not?” The Trickster God commanded in an affectionate yet exasperated tone that surprised him. “I’d like you to assist these mortals and Thor in defeating this threat in my stead, Fenrir.”

“Of course, _Master_ Loki.” Came a playful response combined with a teasing smirk, just to rebel against the younger God’s remark.

“If my oafish brother tries to command you, don’t listen to him.” Loki added as an afterthought, and dismissed the indignant protest from the Thunder God. “I trust you to make your own judgment when the situation calls for it, dearest. If the need shall rise, I will have Jörmungandr and Hel assist you; however, let’s hope it won’t come to that, hmm?”

Fenrir gave a deep bow in response with a playful smirk and mirthful eyes, “I will not fail you, _Your Highness_.”

“Of course, you won’t, pet.” The younger God gave an eye roll at the title despite having a fond look.

Clint blinked in confusion when the Trickster God patted the newcomer on the head, almost like one was petting a dog. He could not help but utter, “What the hell?” out loud.

“Wait a minute, Loki. This is Fenrir?” Thor’s puzzled inquiry rang out. “I thought he was a wolf.”

“I, along with Jörmungandr and Hel, have two forms – Aesir form and Jötnar form. Human form and Beast form in mortal's language. It is my wolf form that you’ve had the pleasure of meeting previously. I am sure you would know this, had you paid attention when Master Loki explained our existences to the court centuries ago, Prince Thor.” Fenrir somehow managed to sound polite yet condescending. “For everyone else, allow me to introduce myself. I am Fenrir, God of Revolution, and am one of Loki’s creations.”

It was very unnerving how the new God (who also happened to be a wolf, which still baffled his mind) sounded similar to Loki – then again, Clint supposed it wasn’t that surprising when he remembered that it was Loki who created Fenrir. Still, it was unnerving how entirely divergent everything was from the Norse mythology he knew – and yes, he had read them days after Thor’s announcement of Loki’s stay on Earth.

“Good, get to know one another. Make plans, and such. I will be taking my leave since this is not my battle.” The Trickster God remarked, and gave a small nod towards Fenrir, who regarded in response with a bow. “Fenrir, love, you know how to contact me if you need anything. Let us pray that you won’t, shall we? I have a photo shoot I must attend to now, so I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Wait, Loki!”

Clint blinked in surprise when he heard a snort from Fenrir when whatever Thor wanted to say was cut off as the aforementioned God disappeared without a notice.

“Makes me wonder what you lot did to antagonize Loki considering it has been a while since I’ve seen him regard anyone with such cold indifference.” Fenrir drawled with a raised brow, and sat down in Loki’s seat.

“Well, Thor did wake him in the middle of the night for a battle.” Tony quipped unhelpfully while taking a loud sip of coffee.

He raised a brow when Fenrir uttered a noise that sounded completely unconvinced, and then shot a dry look towards the Thunder God.

“Thank you for helping us.” Steve cut in gratefully. “How shall we address you?”

“Fenrir will do. Don’t bother wasting time with an introduction. Loki has already informed me who you are.”

“Let’s start strategizing then. We’re burning daylight.” Fury commandeered the conversation before anyone could utter a word.

________

“I was not aware that you are the God of Revolution.”

Clint resisted the urge to face palm at Thor’s seemingly innocent comment that insinuated ignorance. He shot a look at Tony, who was about make a comment or two about this but wisely remained quiet upon noticing his _and_ Bruce’s looks. They did not need another wrathful God in their midst.

“It is rather alarming that one brother is unaware of the powers another withheld despite being together for centuries.” Fenrir’s offhanded tone ostensibly hid bitterness behind the topic. “Master Loki may have forgiven for you misspoken words, uttering such nonsense that his sorcery was _ergi_ , when it was his sorcery that saved you _and_ your buffoons for centuries. You, who have yet to express your gratitude, dared to proclaim his sorcery are mere tricks.”

He might not understand what Fenrir was saying, but he definitely didn’t want to be Thor right now.

“I am grateful that Loki –”

“Yet, once again,” Fenrir continued as if Thor had not interrupted. “ _Yet, once again_ , Master Loki had to drop what he’s doing to save you. His heart and patience must truly be magnanimous. Let us be clear, Prince Thor – I do not like you. Your ignorance to Master Loki’s prowess is downright insulting, especially for someone who proclaims to love his brother.”

“I have gained much knowledge during my banishment here and thereafter, Fenrir. Take care of your accusations, for I will not forgive such slights against my person.” Thor retaliated.

“We shall see if you’ve truly learned as you say you have, wouldn’t we?”

Clint wanted to groan at the mock compliant tone – it was as if he was listening to a rebellious teenager. Joy… three more hours in this Quinjet with these two. What had he done to deserve this?

“So, Fenrir, I’ve been dying to know this.” Tony began with stern seriousness. “Have you read the mythology written about you?”

“Tony…”

“What, don’t tell me you aren’t curious about it, Brucie-bear. It’s for science! For research!” Tony exclaimed with such enthuse that wearied Clint. “Come on, Fenny, tell me everything. Don’t be shy with the details. First of all, what is it like being a wolf? Do you howl at full moon?”

Fenrir chuckled at the inquires, and looked at Tony with playful glints, “Would you like to try?”

“You can turn me into a wolf?” came a gasp filled with amazement and wonderment.

“Well, yes, of course.”

“Oh my god, you can turn me into a wolf. How cool is that?” Tony seemed to be hyperventilating with giddiness from such scientific discovery. “Yes! Turn me into a wolf! …It’s not permanent, is it?”

At least Fenrir looked thoroughly entertained at Tony’s antics. “Of course not. It’s only for as long as you wish it. Master Loki trained me to be just as powerful as he is, after all.”

“Tony, let’s not go there. We have a mission to fulfill, remember?” Steve interjected sternly with the patented Captain America’s ‘I’m disappointed in you, soldier’ look.

“Stevie, you’re no fun. Fenny, let’s turn _him_ into a wolf instead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fenrir is the God of Revolution because in myths, he is the bringer of Ragnarök. It seems fitting, somehow. I don't know the title for Jörmungandr yet... his is interestingly difficult to think of.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this? An update in the middle of the week? 
> 
> Also, thank you TheGermanBear for giving me the idea regarding Jörmungandr's title. I couldn't have done this chapter without your idea. 
> 
> And thanks y'all for all the comments and kudos, once again.

Loki took a long sip of his tea – ginger peach tea, which his fans gifted him among other flavors after they discovered his love for teas – and clicked on the next episode of a drama show he was watching. He recently discovered the wormhole that was Korean drama series, and he definitely did not spend the last few days binge watching _Iris._

What was a few days without sleep? It was his vacation for couple of weeks before he had to go to Milan for another fashion show.

He was used to functioning with little to no sleep, considering he had done so while he was learning new spells or reading up on their side effects in the library of Asgard and Alfheimr. So, a handful of days to enjoy himself and getting lost in the fictional storyline of a drama show and its cheese-filled lines without needing to pause to cleanup after Thor’s problem – it was such an alluring experience.

So, when he received a phone call five days after that fateful meeting and leaving Fenrir to handle whatever nonsense the Avengers stumbled upon, he all but wanted to crush the device in his hands to leave the group of heroes to deal with their problem themselves.

He grudgingly paused the video and let the phone ring a couple more times, simply because he could. With utmost reluctance, he finally answered the call with annoyance hiddenly laced in his tone.

“What is it?”

_“Master Loki, we require your assistance.”_

Thus, he ended getting ready to leave for New York yet again as slowly as he could simply because he was that unenthusiastic to assist them. Moreover, as much as he wanted to let the Avengers figure out the solution themselves, he couldn’t deny his pet anything – he was soft like that. Not that anyone would know this because he would (and could) gut anyone who dared to make fun of him for this.

He heaved a dejected sigh as he ran a hand through his now short hair – which he verbally fought with his stylist to not have it cut, but ended losing the argument that ultimately resulted in him being tied to a chair and losing his long hair. It was a humiliating experience that he wasn't going to repeat to anyone. He could have easily used his seiðr, but he didn’t want to disclose to anyone his God status.

To them, he was simply Lukas Skywalker, a model, and that was just fine with him.

“Here we go again.” He grumbled under his breath as he transported himself to the Avenger’s compound.

He delicately raised a brow when he noticed the solemn atmosphere among the Avengers and Fenrir. The group was standing in various spots in the room, which he presumed to be a medical room of some sort, and lying on the operation table was Jane Foster. She had various Midgardian apparatuses hooked on her person, including what he presumed to be a breathing equipment.

“Master Loki!” Fenrir outwardly beamed as soon as he strolled into the room.

“What seems to be the problem, pet?”

“Thank god, you’re here, Rudolph!” Anthony exclaimed exuberantly while turning around, and then made some choking noises upon seeing him. He raised a quizzical brow, just as the mortal gasped out, “—you cut your hair, and dyed it ash gray. Oh my god, how can you look better than you did last time? It should be illegal.”

Loki gave an amused smirk at the gaping expression of his fan – he had a lovely conversation with Anthony regarding that topic and those laminated collages some days prior – and casually replied, “It’s for the upcoming fashion show. My stylist was rather insistent on the change.”

“You look good, Master Loki.” Fenrir gave a nod of approval.

“Thank you, love.”

“Anyway.” Clint interjected with a cough and a pointed look towards Anthony. “We retrieved Dr. Foster from Doom a couple of days ago, but she’s strangely not waking up no matter what we do. Dr. Helen Cho, our medical doctor, couldn't find anything wrong with her; however, Fenrir here said that a part of her soul was ripped out when Doom tried to forcibly take Aether from her. Can you tell us if he's right?”

He gave an indifferent look to the small explanation with his arms crossed. “He is. But this concerns me, how?”

“Brother, please! You’re the only who can heal Lady Jane’s soul from this ordeal.”

Loki shot an annoyed look towards the Thunder God, feeling irked by the forceful request, and retaliated with a, “Again, why should I do this? Just because you said so? I’m not someone whom you can call upon whenever you need my help.”

He bit back a satisfactory smirk when Thor looked crestfallen at his remarks and murmured, “Loki, please… Lady Jane doesn’t deserve this.”

“There are a lot of people who do not deserve what is done to them. It doesn't mean I will waste my time to save every one of them.” Loki replied nonchalantly as if he was discussing the weather. “Tell me, Thor, what makes her different to earn this special treatment? Is it because of her relation to you? More importantly, what can she offer in exchange that is equivalent value for healing her soul?”

“Cease this nonsense, Loki! You have no right to regard her as unimportant when you know how important she is to me. She didn’t ask Aether to possess her, and she didn’t ask for part of her soul to be ripped from her. Lady Jane does not deserve this misery.”

Upon seeing Thor’s enraged expression, he muttered some choice words and huffed under his breath at the fact that he needed to clarify what he meant. Clearly, someone hadn’t paid attention during seiðr lessons, especially when the colloquium was on healings using seiðr.

“Healing seiðr is different from combat seiðr. One cannot heal another’s soul, life force, life energy, whatever you may wish to label it, without giving up something of equivalent value. Seiðr does not work like that – it never has, and it never will. To heal something, the caster needs to surrender something of equivalent value – for injuries and illnesses, forfeiting seiðr will work. The caster will need some rest afterwards, depending on the scale of the healing; however, to heal someone’s soul, simply forfeiting seiðr will not compensate for the value needed.”

“The Law of Equivalent Exchange. Jörmungandr mentioned this as well, when he needed to rebirth someone – a life for a life or exchanging one’s future for the present.” Fenrir echoed in understanding.

“Exactly.” Loki casted a proud look towards his pet, who gave a grin in response. He then refocused his attention back to Thor and the rest of Avengers, “I can ask Jörmungandr to heal her since that is his specialty, but Lady Jane needs to forfeit something of equivalent value for him to do this.”

“Wait, can’t you do that, Reindeer Games?” Anthony questioned with furrow brows. “Why Jör?”

“He’s the God of Rebirth, which means he is the master of such healings. If he is going to do this, your Lady Jane would most likely need to forfeit her some years of her future.” Fenrir answered in his stead.

“How many years?” Thor asked with clenched jaws and displeased expression.

His pet shrugged in reply, and verbally voiced, “That depends on many factors – the amount she needs to be healed, the amount seiðr output required for this, if the ritual would accept the exchange, and most importantly, if her body would accept this treatment.”

“What about the time you transmuted Doom into a fish?” Bruce questioned in puzzled. “Didn’t you need an exchange of some sort for that?”

“Curses work differently, Dr. Banner. It’s not as complicated as healing magic.” 

“Please Loki, she cannot die like this. We are the ones who brought this upon her, we need to fix this.” Thor pleaded once more.

He heaved sigh once more, silently grumbling about Thor’s persistence. He then drew out runes in midair with his seiðr for the summon and called out, “Jörmungandr,” instead of instantaneous summon like he had done for Fenrir.

He wanted a flashy entrance and to show off his ability, as well as to take time with everything because of his reluctance. His voice echoed throughout the room as his magical signature flared out.

A moment later, Jörmungandr stepped out of the portal in a familiar glory of long silver hair, emerald green eyes (curse his stylist for making him remember different shades of color and their names), and white colored attire akin to his battle tunic (without his signature horned helmet).

“Master Loki.” Jörmungandr began politely, and then flicked a wary glance to the being near him. “Fenrir, what did you do this time?”

“Nice to see you again, dear.”

“And what makes you think _I_ did something? For all you know, I could be innocent; in fact, I am innocent. So, hah!”

“Are you? We both know that you like causing mayhem simply because you could, and I have unfortunate pleasure of being on cleanup duty afterwards.”

“Jör, I love you, but I hate you –"

“The feeling is mutual, Fenrir.” The God of Rebirth interjected with a playful smirk.

His pet all but growled frustratedly, and glared rather playfully in retaliation, “For the love of myself, would you let me finish?”

Jörmungandr raised a brow at the outburst, and chuckled, “By all means.”

Fenrir muttered and hissed like a Midgardian cat, and then sighed deeply in resignation, “As much as you wished I did something, this is not my doing.”

“That’s good to know. I was planning to skin your hind if you did do something like this.”

“What! That’s an abuse, right there!” His pet retorted alarmingly with doggy ears and tail pointed up like a startled cat. “Loki! Jör is being mean to me again~”

“Loves, as much as it is fun to listen to your banter, I'd like to get this done with as quickly as possible.” Loki interrupted while massaging his temple to cease an oncoming headache whenever he had the unfortunate pleasure of being in the same room as Jörmungandr and Fenrir.

He knew that if he left these two to themselves, it would take all day and then some before they get down to business. Not that he would mind, if it was any other day, but he simply does not wish to remain here and give Thor an opportunity to force him to do an Avenger’s work.

“Of course, Master Loki.” Jörmungandr responded coolly, and looked over to the figure lying on the operation table.

A burst of light and healing runes materialized underneath Jörmungandr and Lady Jane – from what he understood, this was merely for a scan using soul forge. A concentrated expression, an understanding hum, and a raised brow of surprise later, the runes disappeared, and lights returned to normal.

“What's the verdict, doc?” Anthony quipped.

“Her soul is more than damaged than I speculated.”

“Can you heal her, Jörmungandr?” Thor inquired hopefully with an equally hopeful gaze.

A contemplative hum echoed in the room as the Avengers seemed to wait with baited breath. Finally, there was a sigh and an answer, “It will cost me a lot of seiðr to heal her. Even then, I cannot guarantee her safety during the procedure due to its complicated nature. It would be easier and safer for her to be killed, and let her be reborn.”

Suffice to say, they did not take that answer well. There were loud exclaims, aghast expressions, overlapped queries that demanded explanations. Not that Loki could understand what they were saying due to the chaotic nature in the room.

“Isn’t there another way?” Bruce’s question sounded over others’ voices.

“I’m not a miracle worker, despite my title.” Jörmungandr responded with a meaningful look.

________

It baffled Tony’s mind to witness the entire process of rebirth – someone who just died was revived instantly. Granted, there was the whole equivalent exchange that he doesn’t quite understand. Regardless, Jane Foster, who was in a comatose previously due to part of her soul missing from Aether extraction (which he still couldn’t comprehend), had died in the hands of Thor (as reluctant as the Thunder God was to do the deed), and was rebirthed immediately by Jörmungandr.

The whole process was incredibly unbelievable. Despite what the Gods said about magic being an unexplained science, science cannot revive a human being from dead. It goes against the law of nature. Yet, here they were… waiting for Jane to wake up after the revival process finished.

“Jane?”

A low groan escaped from the mentioned patient’s lips, and slow blinking eyes tried to adjust to the brightness of the room. A few moments later, Jane sluggishly sat up from the operation table and tried to get the bearings of the current situation.

“What happened?”

“Well then, why don’t you explain what happened to her?” Jörmungandr interjected with crossed arms. “For the record, the payment was 30 years, which I understand can be a lot for mortals. I do not decide the exchange value, so it is fruitless for you to be furious at me. However, it is better than being in vegetative state for foreseeable future, is it not?”

“Words cannot express my gratitude, Jörmungandr.” Thor rumbled gratefully with a bowed head.

“If that is all, then the three of us will be taking our leave.” Loki cut in abruptly.

“Three?” Clint questioned confusedly. “Wasn’t Fenrir going to help us in your stead?”

The Trickster God gave a mocking smile, and stated, “I have another quest for him in the meantime. Do try to stay alive until then.”

Tony opened his mouth to rebut with a witty quip, but Loki, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr disappeared in a ripple of mirrors without a warning. He was quite curious as to what this quest was; hopefully, he would remember to ask for its details the next time he sees Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea of rebirth process requiring equivalent exchange from Full Metal Alchemist. It's mostly there for check and balance - 'cause without it,
> 
> I stress-wrote this chapter, hence an update outside the normally updated schedule (aka: the weekend). The next update will be this weekend - hopefully, there will be good news from my job interview (which I had on Monday)... a reason why I am stress-writing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I received the result that interview from Monday, and I'm left with disappointment and bitterness, to say the least. It wasn't meant to be, I suppose. 
> 
> In other notes, I probably shouldn't have watched Civil War again to take my mind off that disappointment while thinking about plot bunnies for this story.

The past two weeks had been slow, to say the least.

 It was unnerving that Tony had not heard a word from Loki – not that he had the means to contact the Trickster God. He could easily hack into Thor’s cellphone to get the number, but he didn’t want to deal with a wrathful Thunder God. Speaking of Thor, the aforementioned God had gone back to Asgard due to a summon from the All-Father a day after that fateful revival process, and hadn’t returned since.

As for Jane Foster, she hadn’t taken well upon receiving an explanation for what had transpired, or to the fact that Jörmungandr practically requested Thor to kill her to be revived . Her unjustifiable anger redirected to Loki when she learned that Jörmungandr was one of the Trickster God’s creations. It irked him that the mere mention of Loki’s name fueled her anger.

Sure, New York invasion happened, and people died. He wasn’t trying to cast aside that incident as unimportant, but he had all the facts now – at least he believed he did – and he knew that Loki wasn’t at full power or even at coherent mental capacity then. He knew and understood what it was like to be under forceful coercion by someone. After all, he had the displeasure of experiencing it in Afghanistan.

Regardless, he had no idea what was happening anymore, especially when there was a radio silence in all directions – including from a certain villain in Latveria. This felt more like ‘calm before the storm’ and he felt jittery when he doesn’t know anything.

Their investigation – with help from SHIELD – into Latveria had been largely unsuccessful, mostly due to the fact that they couldn’t enter the country. Any attempts they tried (via invisible air transportation, infantry agents, and otherwise) had been thwarted. It was as if Latveria had voluntarily entered into a state of isolation, and there was nothing they could do about it.

It was perturbing, to say the least… and that was putting the whole situation mildly.

“Tony, we can’t just sit on our hands and wait for some kind of news from Loki.”

And… this, right here, was another matter that he didn’t want to deal with. Steve with the whole star-spangles righteousness wanting to charge into a situation without knowing the full details.

“Look, Mr. Justice,” He began with a scowl itching to form on his expression, but he quickly schooled his expression with years of practice. “I get that you don’t like waiting without knowing who-knows-what Doom is up to. But we can’t just charge in and hope for the best. We need to wait for Loki to return from whatever quest he was on. He might have leads that we don't.”

“And we don’t know how long that will take, Tony.” Steve replied with a frown. “We don’t know what Doom is doing in the meantime. What if he mastered the control over whatever powers he had and became more destructive? That’s why we need to take him down now.”

The rebuttal he had to that statement immediately died on his lips when he heard, “Your fear is understandable, Rogers, but it’s reckless.”

He blinked in surprised when the sheet of mirror he had in his workshop rippled, and an unfamiliar feminine figure with a very familiar air strolled into the room.  The annoyance in those familiar eyes and gaits in those steps made him choke in his air when he realized just whom he was staring at.

“Loki?”

“Yes, Anthony. It is I.” The Trickster God – Goddess, his mind corrected – drawled with barely concealed irritation.

“How is it that you’re…” He barely managed to voice out his question and waved his hand to gesture what he meant while he openly stared at the Goddess before him.

Loki heaved a sigh as she flicked her long black hair over her shoulders, and delicately perched on his work desk, clearly mindful of his plans for Mark LII. “I needed to go undercover to infiltrate Latveria and Doom’s estate to determine just how much of Aether’s power he has in his possession. My usual male form clearly wasn’t going to finish the deed as stealthily as I wished; hence, my current female form. Jötnar are, after all, intersex beings who can shapeshift – while we do not have a decided gender, some do have a preference of one over another. That, in itself, is a discussion for another time. Another matter is that, I had Jörmungandr and Fenrir investigate of possible cohorts Doom may have. What they found was quite alarming, to say the least.”

“And that is?” Steve interjected with a frown.

It seemed the Goddess doesn’t like the interruption, if that cold glare towards the Super Soldier indicated anything. Regardless of her feelings towards Steve, she uttered a curt, “I will explain my findings when Thor returns from his trip. In the meantime, Anthony, I would like a word with you later.”

Well, doesn’t that sound alarming?

________

Fenrir reappeared in the common room of the Avengers’ compound, with less dramatic flourish than Loki had, might he add. He gave a shot glance around the room and blinked in surprised when he noticed that Thor had returned from the mission All-Father assigned to the Thunder God. Aside from that, he noted the fugitive glances towards Loki, whom he realized – with barely concealed amusement – was in the female form.

“Loki, I haven’t seen you in this form in centuries.” Thor’s amused remark contained a noticeable snicker, more so when Loki shot an annoyed look.

“That’s because I didn’t need to use my feminine charms to get what I want. I would transform back to my other form, but it’s more amusing to see you up in arms, so to speak, when you see me like this.” The Trickster Goddess gave an aristocratic sniff that transformed into a playful smirk when Thor shot an exasperated look in response. “But that’s not why I had you lot gathered here. Fenrir, dear, your report, if you please.”

He barely managed to gather his wits when his master called upon him. It was unnerving to see Loki in that form, considering he had only met her a handful of times (which he could count with one hand) even though he knew about this possibility unconsciously.

“Right.” He wetted his lips rather nervously when everyone’s gaze landed on him.  He detested public speaking, if he could help it. “Although Master Loki told you repeatedly that she would not aid you in your fight against Doom, there was a disconcerting circumstance that had her attention. For one, how did Doom know about the Heart of Midgard, its Gate, and the power it contained? Midgardians and its sorcerers, however powerful they believed themselves to be, under no circumstances, should know about this. We believed this was the work of someone knowledgeable about Nine Realms and its security measures. Or someone who has the privy to this knowledge.”

“Who could that be, though?” Bruce inquired with furrowed brows. “Who could an access to this sort of information?”

Fenrir gave a wry smile at the wise inquiries, but did not bother to address them as he continued with his explanation. “Secondly, what could Doom gain by extending his services to this other party, and what could they, in return, gain from this partnership?”

“The answer to those queries is very simple.” Loki spoke grimly with a small frown.

“I found out that some fraction of SHIELD agents was, in fact, double agents. They were working an organization called HYDRA and rogue sorcerers from a place known as Kamar-Taj; together, they held a partnership with Doom for their world domination propaganda.” He decided to drop the news onto the group rather unceremoniously without any warning. He didn't wait for them to digest the information before he continued with his tale. “Considering the fact that SHIELD had the Mind Stone in the form of a scepter for a duration, and we can sufficiently state that the Mind Stone provided the double agents with adequate information about Heart of Midgard before Thor collected the item back to Asgard.”

“How can you be positive that it is them and not someone else?” Steve questioned with a frown.

Fenrir opened his mouth to respond, but immediately halted when he noticed Loki regarded the man with a displeased frown. He doesn’t know what sort of actions the mortal had done to gain that apathy, but he certainly doesn’t want to be in Steve’s place.

“Why do you think I am in this form?” Loki retorted with a raised brow. “While I do take on this form for my own amusement, this look tends to be far more useful to gather intelligence. I am sure Lady Natasha would agree that men tend to be more malleable to agree when we are… persuasive using our feminine appeals.” 

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Natasha agreed with a nod.  

“Loki is the best spy in Asgard and in Nine Realms.” Thor supplied with a proud grin. “I believe Father has a moniker ‘Agent of Asgard’ solely for Loki.”

 “Right, I’d like more details on that story when we’re not discussing about our possible demise.” Tony interjected with a thoughtful frown. “So, we know where they got some powers of Reality Stone from. How are we going to stop them if he could do magic? If he could mix magic and technology together? In the past few fights, we couldn’t do anything – we had to ask for your help, Loki.”

“Which is why, I asked All-Father to ask Thor to gather some books that explains sorcery in such ways so non-sorcerers could comprehend. If you could grasp such ways and find ways to counter, you might just win.” The Trickster Goddess replied with a smirk. “I believe, in Midgardian terms, one might call these books ‘Sorcery for Dummies’.”

“Couldn’t you teach us – them – how to counter them yourself, Loki?” Thor asked with a thoughtful yet sullen look. “You are one of the most powerful mages in the Nine Realms.”

“Master Loki do have duties to attend to.” Fenrir interrupted firmly yet sternly. “You cannot expect my master to do everything for you, Prince Thor. You have duties as Midgard’s Protector.”

“Thank you for gathering these intellects for us, Loki.” Natasha cut in. “We can take it from here, Thor. We’re not so helpless that we don’t know how to protect ourselves.”

“Fenrir will assist you with whatever you do not understand.”

He blinked in confusion when his Master voluntarily offered his assistance, and almost groaned when there wasn’t anything he could do to refuse it. Not when Loki gave him that pointed look and an arched brow that dared him to deny the order… not that he would do so when everyone else was busy preparing for Midgard’s safety against Reality Stone if the need comes to that.

He supposed this was his duty.

________

Tony paused in drawing up a new blueprint for Mark LII, one that would now include magical protection with the use of his Arc Reactor. His mind reverted back to the conversation he had with Loki earlier – it was an interesting piece of information, to say the least. He doesn’t know what to make of it, but this information definitely changed some things… he thought he knew.

 _“Anthony, I would like a word with you.”_ He remembered these very words were what prompted this conversation.

_“What is it, Rudolph?”_

He remembered the solemn look on the Trickster God when he handed him a thick manila folder and a video tape. He didn’t know what it meant when he accepted it, but the explanation…

_“These items contain information about Howard and Maria Stark. Ones that I feel it would be proper to be in your hands than in your foe’s possession.”_

It confused him that HYDRA of all people would have information on his parents, whom he believed were killed in a car accident. However, that information proved to be false upon viewing the video tape and reading the documents Loki gave him. It baffled him that SHIELD knew about this since there were reports pertaining to their deaths – in fact, he wondered if Fury or anyone in that organization ever planned to tell him.

More importantly, it stunned him that Steve (and possibly, Natasha too, if he considered her spying skills) knew about this from a SHIELD mission, and they had every chance every day to tell him… yet, they didn’t.

Loki, someone entirely unrelated to him, somehow chanced upon this information and decided he deserved to know. He knew that the God couldn’t have known the truth behind his parents’ death, but simply decided that doesn’t deserved to be with their foes and relinquished it to him.

This action, somehow, made him trust the Trickster God more than two of his current teammates. In fact, he still doesn’t know what to make of Steve and Natasha.

“What am I going to do?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably shouldn't have spent last week watching Civil War... but this is a different take of that whole thing. I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely on Team Iron Man.

Tony wordlessly put down his screwdriver on his work table, and took a long sip of scotch from a decanter without pouring it in a wine glass. Ever since that day (was it really only two days ago?) Loki handed him the information and video on his parents’ death, he couldn’t stop going over it in his mind.

Logically, he wanted to confront Steve (Rogers, his mind corrected) about harboring this information from him. It _had_ been nearly two years, according to that SHIELD report, since Rogers knew; yet, the man didn’t bother to tell him. He mulled over the motives in his mind for what reason Rogers had for keeping this information a secret, but in the end… he couldn’t find one.

This was regarding his parents, and it was his prerogative to know.

‘And he had the gulls to preach about keeping secrets from the team.’ Tony scoffed bitterly as he drowned more scotch.

Surprisingly, it was Loki who repeatedly visited him despite all the talks about keeping away from Avengers and their businesses. The Trickster God simply teleported to his workshop in spite of his security measures, and silently gave him comfort and support through his anger and anguish.

“I did some digging around and found out that Winter Soldier is James Buchanan Barnes. He’s Rogers’ friend from the war.” Tony announced with his hands clenched around his drink.

“Anthony –” He could tell there was a frown on the God’s face without turning around based on that tone alone.

“I know, I know. The death doesn’t care if the killer was a friend or a foe.” Tony replied, repeating the words the Trickster God told him when they watched the video together. “I can’t help but think that Rogers didn’t tell me because of Barnes. What if I’m right, Loki-bear?”

“It’s something you’ll have to confront him to truly know the reason, Anthony.” Loki replied in a gentle tone that he didn’t know the God was capable of.

Tony frowned at the answer, and glanced over to where he heard the Trickster God’s voice. He nearly jumped in startled when he saw that Loki was mere three feet away from him.

“I don’t know if I can do that. It angers me every time I think about it. And for nearly thirty years, I was angry at my dad for prioritizing his work over me and not communicating with me… but looking through the information you gathered, I can’t help but think I was wrong. And mom – oh god, my _mom!_ Loki, I don’t know what to do anymore, and I hate myself for not knowing.” He confessed unexpectedly.

He doesn’t know why he was unloading all these emotions unto Loki like this. Was it because he trusted the God? Heck, he couldn’t even decipher what he was feeling at the moment.

Still, neither uttered a word after his confession – for Tony, it was because he didn’t know what to say after that – but when he looked over to the Trickster God, there was a contemplative expression that puzzled him.

“Would you like to speak to them, Anthony?”

“—What?”

“Would you like to speak to them?” Loki repeated patiently yet casually, sounding as if the question was a normal one. “I can request Hela to seek your parents, so you may converse with them to clear up any misconceptions you may have.”

Tony frowned at the offer with knitted brows, and tentatively asked, “What do you want in return for that? I remember you mentioning about equivalent exchange, and I highly doubt you would do this without getting anything in return.”

“Nothing.” When he suspiciously narrowed his eyes at that response, the God clarified, “Think of this as payment for putting up with Thor and the resources you remunerated for his stay here. I know the oaf didn’t bother to pay you anything, so I will in his stead.”

“You don’t have to –”

“I’d like to. You deserve closure, Anthony.” Loki interjected through his protests, and added, “Now, would you accept my offer?”

Tony mulled over the offer, still unsure if there truly was a way to speak to the dead, and asked hesitantly, “Can I really talk to them?”

“Hela is the Goddess of Death. She rules over your Midgardian equivalent of Heaven and Hell – Valhalla, Fólkvangr, and Helheimr, in our case. I created her to rule over Helheimr when there wasn’t a ruler in that realm and no one wanted to do it. I had no intention to take the throne either - it's quite bothersome. Over time, mother and father didn’t have time to oversee Valhalla and Fólkvangr respectively when Asgard rose to the top of Nine Realms, so they gave the duty to Hela. As such, she oversees all the dead now.” Loki explained calmly with an amused smirk.

“Would she allow this?” He dared to ask, trying to mask hopefulness in his tone. When the Trickster God nodded in answer, he had to comment, “You are one dangerous God, Loki-Doki. You can revive and kill someone with your creations. But yes, I’d like to speak to my parents, if you’ll let me.”

“I’ll ask Hela to find them for you. I’ll let you know when our preparations are complete.” Loki responded with a nod. “In the meantime, you know you need to confront Rogers about this, and you need to continue with your preparations to take down Doom.”

Tony hummed in agreement, inwardly contemplating on what to say especially when he never considered uttering what he had in mind with this much level of gratitude to anyone else aside from Pepper and Rhodey. Regardless, he mustered his courage to say, “Thank you, Loki,” with much gratefulness in his tone.

“You’re welcome, Anthony.”

________

Thor narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he pensively watched Tony playing with a Stark Pad across the table. He and other members of Avengers convened in one of the conference rooms to decipher mountains of books his brother had left them with. As far as he remembered, it had been approximately three days since he and the others had seen or heard from Tony – JARVIS mentioned something along the line of, “Sir requests not to be disturbed,” and overrode their authorizations to the workshop.

He must admit, this behavior was highly suspicious, more so when he considered that Tony refused to look at Steve after this ordeal. The conversations the two had henceforth had been tense and terse, and it would have been amusing for him (he does have a brother who is God of Mischief for centuries) if he wasn’t caught in the middle of this fracas and if this didn't seemed as concerning as it looked.

“My brain hurts from all this reading.” Clint bemoaned while flicking through one of the volumes. “How could Loki read and understand this? I barely understood half of what they’re saying.”

“That’s because you have a birdbrain.” Tony quipped mischievously without looking up from the tablet. “But I suppose you are right – magic is complicated. There are so many symbols and what it denotes, and the equations. That doesn’t even cover the laws pertaining what is possible and what is not.”

“See, you’re confused about this just like the rest of us.” Clint retorted with a huff.

“Aren’t we wasting time trying to understand this?” Steve commented with a disapproving frown. “Even if we understand this, it’s not like we’d be able to perform magic. What’s the point, anyway?”

Thor opened his mouth to counter, but he immediately paused when he heard Tony’s icy retaliation, “So, you just want to ignore the fighting chance Loki offer and spit it back in his face? Do let me know if you have better solutions, because frankly, I haven’t seen you do well in the last few fights we had with Doom.”

“Alright, what’s your problem Steve, Tony?”

The Thunder God looked over to the said person when he heard those words from Natasha. He, too, would like to know the sudden attitude change, especially when the aforementioned two individuals had been cordial in the past. He furrowed his brows thoughtfully, trying to decipher when the change occurred and realized that it was right after whatever words Tony had with Loki.

His thoughts interrupted at Tony’s scathing tone, “So, when were you going to tell me, Rogers?” and those unforgiving eyes when he looked over to the man.

“Tell you what, Tony?”

Thor would have pitied Steve at that confused and lost tone if he didn’t see the hurt expression on Tony during that exchange.

“When were you going to tell me that you knew my parents’ killer, Rogers?” Tony questioned in an eerie calm that chilled over the previous amicable atmosphere. “Or were you planning to hide that information and use my resources, my money, and my weaponries to protect Barnes?”

There was a sharp intake from Bruce, who was in the process of doing some breathing techniques to remain calm but does not seem to be succeeding. Ultimately, the scientist gave an apologetic look to Tony and left so that the Hulk does not emerge to wreak havoc in the room.

“What the hell, Steve?” Clint hissed out disapprovingly.

“Steve, you said you were going to tell him yourself!” Natasha chided with narrowed eyes and a frown. “So, that’s why you kept impeding my attempts to tell him.”

“It’s not Bucky’s fault!” Steve insisted almost desperately. “He was brainwashed. Clint, you knew what that felt like when Loki did it to you.”

“Don’t bring me into your problem.” The archer responded in an unimpressed tone.

“I blamed my dad all these years for his reckless behavior and getting my mom killed in the process. All these goddammed 30 years. And I found out from Loki that this wasn’t the case. They were murdered, Rogers. Murdered!” Tony slammed his palms on the table’s surface angrily, and directed that anger towards across the table. “Yet, my so-called teammate has the gull to lie to my face every single fucking day, and use my resources shamelessly. All to what? Look for my parents’ murder?”

“You have to understand –”

“I don’t have to understand anything!”

“Bucky is innocent! It wasn’t him that killed your parents, and I didn’t want to bring up old wounds, Tony.”

“They were my parents! I deserved to know!” Tony all but shouted before an eerily calm look masked over the seething expression. “Get out.”

“What?”

“Get out, Rogers. And leave your shield behind. You don’t deserve my father’s gift.”

Thor narrowed his eyes warningly after Steve seemed to recover from the shock of that remark, and stared petulantly at Tony to say, “You can’t do that! You need me to help you with Doom now that he paired up with HYDRA and some sorcerers.”

“He can, and he just did, Son of Rogers. While your help is appreciated, my brother and his pets can easily fill in your spot.” The Thunder God interrupted sternly, reminding the two parties of his and others’ presences. “Your action was most dishonorable. Shield brothers don’t lie to one another, and the fact that you did… I am appalled to call you one of my shield brethren. The dead doesn’t care if their murderer was a friend or a foe. Loki has told me as such when I had to make my first kill. The fact that you are protecting the murderer and lying to Anthony… you’re not the man I thought you were. I am quite disappointed in you and in your decision to keep this from Anthony.”

“Wait a minute. Loki told you?” Clint interjected confusedly. “How did he come across that information?”

“He was hacking HYDRA databases, and decided to give me the information whether I already knew or not, simply because it had Stark name in the file.” Tony replied as if it was a simple matter. 

“Go, Loki.” The archer cheered with a fist pump.

“Bucky is my friend, Tony.”

Thor resisted the urge to scoff at that weak argument, but remained quiet as this was not his place. His lips curled into a proud smirk when he saw the cold yet serious expression on Tony and heard those three words.

“So was I.”


	10. Chapter 10

For the next three days, Tony busied himself with his Mark LII customization and repairs. Not because he didn’t want to see others’ sympathizing gazes or to endure their inquisitions – well, that had to do with his current hermit status, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that – but because he didn’t want to see Rogers.

He doesn’t know if he could control what he might say the next time he saw _Captain America_. Their last confrontation had been pretty tame compared to how he handled those who betrayed him in the past. One could just look at what happened to Ten Rings, Obadiah Stane, and Mandarin to see the extent of his wrath in the face of betrayal. None of those three parties exist anymore, to put it very simply. He had to admit that Rogers came off extremely well in the aftermath of his confrontation.

“Anthony.”

He jumped in startled when he heard Loki’s voice, and scowled at the Trickster God who dared to laugh at his jumpy disposition. It wasn’t _that_ amusing.

“I have a heart condition, Rudolph.” He complained with a pout and dramatically placed his hands over his Arc Reactor.

“My apologies.” Loki replied with the same amused smirk, and didn’t bother to sound apologetic at all.

Tony silently looked over to the God’s casual attire – a white sleeveless hoodie and a pair of denim jeans paired with black boots – and had to admit how good the Trickster looked in those outfits. It was unfair how those jeans made Loki looked taller than he already was. How come the jeans he wore doesn't do the same? It was totally and utterly unfair.

He broke away from his thoughts, trying to dismiss those amused glints in the Trickster God’s eyes, and asked, “So, what brings to you to my secret hideout?”

“Have you asked Rogers about what you’ve found?” The God asked instead in that same calm yet gentle tone he couldn't help but marvel at.

Tony didn’t want to say anything he might regret later, especially with conflicting thoughts he had about Rogers, so he nodded in response.

Loki hummed in understanding, but didn’t ask for details, which he was extremely grateful for. It surprised him that the Trickster God – out of everyone in the compound – understood what he was going through and helped him deal with its aftermath. If he thought about it, he supposed Loki, out of everyone else in the compound, would understand what keeping a secret hidden for years could do. The Battle of New York was the result of such thing, after all.

“I spoke with Hela about your parents.” Tony snapped out of his musing, and made a small noise to indicate that he was listening. “She found them, and they are ready to meet you. Your father was quite incensed when he learned what happened to you all these years.”

“Uh…” That was the most intelligent thing he could say in response.

“He has some words to Rogers, so I do hope you haven't kicked him off the curb. I believe that's the right saying, right?”

He blinked in surprised at the news, and remembered to reply, “He’s still around the compound because I can’t really kick him off the team. And really? Dad finally remembered I exist after all these years?”

Loki just smiled in answer as if that explained everything when it didn’t, and uttered, “There are some rules I must go through before I bring them to this world.”

“Right. Rules… of course.”

“The most I can give you is 24 hours with them as living beings in this dimension.” The God began with a wry smile. “Any time you want to interact with them henceforth will be through a mirror, which I will give you after their visit. We cannot break any more laws and make exceptions more than we already have for you, Anthony. Normally, the living cannot interact with the dead once their time has passed – Hela would not allow such thing. However, I managed to convince her to allow this exception.”

“Loki…”

Tony choked up at the news. He never thought he would be able to interact with them or that he would be able to hug his mom once more. The most he was thinking was speaking to them through a barrier of some sort. This was better than anything he would have thought possible.

“Hela and I have some last-minute preparations to finish with your parents, so they can be on this plane without repercussions. Will tomorrow morning suffice for your meeting?”

He stared at the Trickster God in surprise at the news. He, who usually had one thing or another to say, did not know what to say except for, “Why are you so good to me?” in a choked-up tone.

“I like to say I am a benevolent God, but I’m not. You, however, deserve some happiness after everything you've been through, and this is within my powers to grant you this. Of course, I don’t do this to just anyone – _you_ are the first mortal to have this privilege.” Loki replied in a calm tone like the God wasn’t offering him anything life-changing. “So, tomorrow?”

“Sure. That'll give me some time to make sure I don't look like a zombie. Mom is going to nag me to the end of times if she sees me like this.” Tony fretted with a nervous grin, gesturing to his grease stained shirt and unkempt appearance.

“I’m sure.” Loki drawled with an amused smirk, but it seemed the God knew what he meant due to that slight winced he caught in between. “How goes your studies in sorcery?”

He groaned at the topic change and shot a mock glare at the chuckles he received in response. When he received a quizzical raised brow at his lack of answer, he complained in a dry tone, “At least someone is having fun at my expense. I don’t know how you understood all these laws, equations, and rules. Even with my three Ph.Ds. I still find them complicated – it’s not exactly the science that I’m used to. I know we need to understand magic, at its bare minimum at least, to recognize what kinds of spells Doom use, but we’re not exactly sorcerers, Loki. We can’t do the voodoo that you do.”

Tony didn’t know what to make of this when Loki chuckled at his word vomit. In fact, it baffled him how his relationship with the Trickster God changed in the last few days – he might even dare to admit that Loki was right up on the list next to his honeybear, and Pepper.

“I know, Anthony.” The God replied with an amused glint, and gave him a proper explanation when he gave a confused look in response. “I needed you and your team to busy yourselves while my pets and I gathered intelligence on Doom, HYDRA, and those rogue sorcerers. We can't have you and your team ruining our plans while we make certain that they didn’t have Heart of Midgard in their possession. I’ve asked Fenrir to speak with some elder sorcerers from Alfheimr to forge protection talismans for your team. He will return in a couple of days.”

“So, that’s where he went. You could’ve told us your plan, you know. Or at least me, because I know some others wouldn’t follow through it.” Tony hummed thoughtfully as he rolled on the heels of his feet. “And I was wondering where he went when I didn’t see him anywhere. I thought he just up and left because he didn’t want to put up with us.”

“Well, Fenrir has issues with Thor –”

“There’s a story there.” He interjected with an eager look, silently urging for the God to explain.

“It will be more amusing to hear that from those two instead.” Loki’s counter with a mischievous grin, which then transformed into a solemn one. “In any case, I do need to get your parents ready. It has been some years since they were here, and I find it necessary to get them up-to-date on current affairs and whatnot.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Loki.”

“As I’ve said before, you’re welcome, Anthony.”

________

Clint raised a brow when he noticed Tony stumbled into the kitchen, looking freshly showered if those wet hair and trimmed goatee were any indication. It had been four days since he and the others saw the billionaire after that infamous confrontation with Steve. There was a clear rift between them and _Captain America_ – that title seemed like a mock to him after everything.

“So, you finally stepped out of your mancave.” He commented with a smirk, trying to lighten the atmosphere. It was too early in the morning to be gloomy. “Welcome back to the land of living and socializing. Population… well, sorry to disappoint you, but there’s only us here.”

He could be mistaken, but Tony grumbled something in response, which sounded like, “Screw you. It’s too early to be socializing without my first cup of coffee.”

Thor chuckled in amused at that antics, and remarked, “I’m glad to see that you are fairing well after that distressing news the other day.”

Clint wanted to facepalm at the lack of tact and subtlety from the Thunder God. He, Natasha, and Bruce had planned to slowly ease into that topic, and what they were going to do with Steve henceforth. Tony had verbally dismissed the super soldier in that argument, and repossessed the shield from Steve. However, they could not expel Steve from the team without Fury breathing fire on them - they needed a plan. 

“You know, I don’t believe in Gods or worship them whatsoever.” Tony began while pouring a cup of coffee, and gave a cheeky grin towards the Thunder God. “I might start worshipping your baby brother, Thor. Like, seriously. He’s too awesome. I was right in making those collages of him.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean, Anthony.” Clint couldn’t help but snort at the baffled puppy-dog expression on Thor.

“So, you _were_ making collages of Loki.” Bruce chimed in with a smirk. “I can’t believe you denied it so vehemently when I asked you about it.”

“What did Loki do to make you worship him?” Natasha interjected with a raised brow.

When Tony all but beamed at the inquiry, it sent various alarms in the back of his mind that reminded him to be weary. So, when he heard those words, “He’s letting my parents visit here for 24 hours,” as a response… he was right to be cautious.

“As zombies?” He had to ask, because really, when there were Gods and aliens, zombies weren’t too far off.

“Of course not! I don’t know how Loki does it, but he’s letting me be with my parents for 24 hours. From what I understand, they’ll be here with us until they have to go back.” Tony’s answer seemed too surreal, but he wasn’t going to question magic.

Thor, on the other hand, looked too solemn that he knew it wasn’t something commonly done. “Loki must have exchanged something of great nature to grant you this, if he hasn’t asked for the payment himself. I do not understand the process, but I remember Mother telling us that it is a difficult feat to transport the souls of the dead to the plane of living. More so, when there are no physical bodies to house those souls.”

“Are we going to meet zombie Howard and zombie Maria?” Clint had to ask, to which Tony let out indignant noises alongside him.

“Fear not, friends.” Thor laughed at their frightened expressions (although Natasha looked unfazed and thoroughly amused by their manly behaviors). “I have yet to see Loki do this for anyone, but my brother is a powerful mage. If he has Hela’s permission, it should be a feasible quest for him.”

Clint opened his mouth to utter, “Who the hell is Hela?” when he heard another voice in the room.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, boy?”

The atmosphere around them chilled by several degrees and the air rippled, almost as if they were standing in a misty room, as three figures appeared from the middle of that portal. The silhouette of one of those figures was someone they were quite familiar with – Loki (who liked doing dramatic entrances more than enough that he knew just by looking that shadow, and no, he was not doing stalking whatsoever to know this either). He speculated that the other two were Howard and Maria since they were talking about them mere seconds ago.  

“Howard, he's older than us. You don't call someone older than us 'boy'. And for goodness sake, dear, let him concentrate on his task. You don’t want to be missing a body part, do you?”

There were some grumbles from whom he presumed to be Howard, but when the dramatic smokes cleared (which he speculated that Loki conjured with magic – he can’t believe he was saying this), the older man – whom he guessed to be Howard – was half-frowning and half-scowling. The older woman – Maria – looked thoroughly exasperated by her husband’s antics.

“Lady Maria, Sir Howard, welcome to 21st century. We are currently in New Avengers Facility, New York.” Loki announced with dramatic flair that only the God could do. “And Anthony, do close your mouth. It’s quite unbecoming to greet your parents like that.”

Clint had to admit, he was handling this new... whatever this was, very well. He calmly sipped on his cup of lukewarm coffee, and watched the reunion as if he was watching a morning soap opera. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that the two Gods were quietly conversing about this - well, Thor seemed to be worried about something, but Loki looked totally nonchalant as if it wasn't a big thing. Tony, on the other hand, looked quite stunned if those choking noises he faintly heard were any indication. 

“Tony, how are you doing, dear?” Maria crossed the kitchen to embrace the sputtering billionaire.

“Mom! I missed you." 

“Where the hell is Steve? I have some words for him.”

Clint had no idea what Loki told the older Stark, who looked thoroughly displeased, but he certainly doesn’t want to be a certain Captain America right now and on the receiving end of that ire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, fanboy Tony will now worship Loki as his God. From laminated collages to shrines, haha... I just find that amusing.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story is already on its 11th chapter. Thanks for all your love and support for this, really. 
> 
> Also, this chapter ended up being longer than usual. I highly doubt there will be complaints for a longer chapter, haha. And behold, Howard's parenting~! (No, you don't need to be afraid, seriously).

“Are we sure they’re not zombies?” Clint asked yet again after a couple of minutes.

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes rather dramatically at that insistence, silently wondering why – of all things in Nine Realms – the archer was stuck on that particular. He supposed, if he had to admit (rather smugly, might he add), not everyone could bring back the dead – if only for a few hours.

Of course, he had to surrender something of great importance to him in order to accomplish this deed. The spell he used required equivalent exchange, but he wasn’t going to disclose this information to Anthony unless he absolutely needed to.

The exchange wasn’t an endeavor that mortals could handle – after all, there was a reason why mortals or most mages could not revive the dead.

“They’re not zombies, for the last time, Agent Barton.” He replied with great exasperation that only he could sound. “They have their own bodies for the next 23 hours and counting.”

“Wouldn't you have to surrender something in exchange for that?” Thor’s concerned tone almost made him smile.

“It’s astonishing how you remember that aspect from Mother’s lessons. I must applaud you for your effort.” He waved away the affronted look on Thor’s face, and the inquisitive looks from others. “It's nothing I couldn't forfeit. No need to concern yourself with it.”

He certainly wasn't going to mention that he had to forfeit a great portion of his seiðr to accomplish this deed unless they asked specific questions about it. This wasn't an act he liked to explain unless he really needed to.

“So, how does this work?” Clint questioned in puzzlement. “Do you just bring their souls and magic their bodies? Or do you create their bodies with magic? I think I’ve seen movies doing both.”

“I believe the process is more complicated than that, Agent Barton.” Thor’s amused response transformed into a concerned one with furrow brows. “I may not know the entire process and what it entails, but only a few mages in the Nine Realms can successfully perform this ritual from what I remember.”

“And that’s Clint Barton, a SHIELD agent. Next to him is Thor, the Norse God of Thunder.” Anthony's voice interjected into their conversation. “You already know Loki, who made this possible.”

“Nice to meet you, dears.” Maria greeted politely. “I can't thank you enough, Loki, for allowing us this chance. Howard, don't you have some words you’d like to say to him too?”

Loki politely bit back an amused grin when the older Stark grumbled, “Yes, yes, thank you,” with great reluctance and an eye roll at his wife’s antics.

“Come on, dad. Let me show you what I've done with my workshop. You'll love my Mark LII. And JARVIS, you have to meet him.”

“What is a Mark LII? And are you talking about Edwin? Or did you name it after him? Did you name something after me too? I hope you named something after me.”

Loki chuckled at the baffled expression on Clint, who looked as of they were in a different dimension. The choking noises the archer made was certainly interesting, to say the least – besides, he had thoroughly prepared Howard and Maria regarding the happenings in Anthony's life, so they knew what to expect. He may not be a benevolent God (because he really isn’t despite his recent actions), but he wasn't callous to send them to a world without any preparations or understanding.

“Well, it's great that they're getting along.” The archer supplied with a shrug. “At least Steve isn't going to get clobbered now. By now, I meant this second.”

“It will give Rogers some minutes to mentally prepare himself.” Thor added resolutely with a sharp smile that chilled him. He had no idea the oaf could look so… God-like. That expression immediately transformed into a concerned one aimed at his direction with a frown as a bonus. “Are you sure you’re fine, Loki? Your complexion looks paler than usual.”

“I'm well, Thor, but I must applaud you for your active imagination.”

________

“This is different.” Tony looked over in confused when he heard those words from his father. The older man then clarified, “Loki showed us what had transpired in your life before he allowed us to come here. Perhaps, he wanted us to talk to one another without constraint. Nevertheless, seeing your works here is certainly different than hearing about them.”

“Is that… bad?”

“Heck no. You're a genius, Tony. Far more than me, as much as I am reluctant to admit it because I liked being the best.” Howard responded with a playful smirk that thoroughly baffled him. “But if anyone is going to take my mantle, it should be you. Oh, which reminds me, I saw Stane when he came to our world.”

“Your father gave him a mean right hook.” Maria added with a laugh. “It was rather surprising, but that man deserved it for what he did to you.”

“And your mother gave him a hell of a smack too. I could still hear it in my sleep.”

The only response Tony had was incoherent noises to accompany his confusion. What was this world?

“What I want to know is, what were you thinking when you named your AIs?” Howard questioned with a disapproving frown, instantly changing the topic. “Of all names in the world, you chose ‘DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers. Now, JARVIS was rather creative, I'll give you that, only because you named him after Edwin.”

“Thank you, sir.” JARVIS preened with proudness laced in that tone.

“In my defense, I was drunk when I named them.” Tony was utterly confused by the direction of this conversation.

He had no idea what Howard was thinking – not that he knew when he was younger either. It thoroughly baffled him that they were able to have a proper conversation without any heated argument whatsoever.

“Those poor things. Their creator couldn’t come up with a proper name. Do I need to get you a baby naming book?” Howard continued with mock exasperation. “Now, tell me about your suit. And are you going to let your old man take it for a ride?”

“You're not exactly young, dad.” He replied cheekily, just because he could, with a grin that only grew wider when his father gasped dramatically.

“Are you telling me I'm old? Maria. I can't believe our boy is saying that I'm old. Tell him I’m not old, honey.”

“Your gray hair indicates otherwise, Howard, and you certainly aren’t getting any younger either.” Maria replied with an amused smile.

“I can't believe you would betray me like this, Maria.” Howard huffed dramatically with a grumble, but decided to let go of the topic to ask, “So, Tony. Are there any grandchildren we should be aware of? Do I need to fear what you named them after your horrible naming techniques with your AIs?”

Tony gave an indignant squawk at the sudden change in topic, and sputtered out, “I’m still single, dad.”

“Do we need to give you The Talk? Are you having performance issues?”

“What? No!! No, no, no, no, no! I don’t need The Talk, dad. I’m not a teenager anymore. You don’t need to give me The Talk” He immediately protested, silently wondering what was happening with his life.

He couldn’t believe he was having _this_ conversation with his parents.

“And while you boys discuss that, I'm going to go make lunch.” Maria interjected to save him some embarrassments. “Don't worry, Tony, I'll make your favorites.”

 “Thanks, mom.” Tony replied gratefully, to which she merely smiled in response and watched her head out to the kitchen room in the common area.

He never thought he would be able to eat his mother's cooking once more until this happened. He'd have to thank Loki if he sees the God again. A certain someone is most definitely getting a long list of Christmas gifts, that’s for sure – maybe he could even stick in a reindeer antlers and red nose just for the heck of it. He was fairly positive Loki would get the joke and not get offended at all.

“I'm not getting younger, boy. I do want grandchildren, even though I won’t be around to watch them.” Howard grumbled primly in a rather aghast yet dramatic tone. “Now, tell me what kind of programming you use for your suits.”

“You certainly aren't as young as you used to be, dad.” Tony quipped with a playful grin, still awed that his father standing before him was different from the one he knew growing up. “Now, as for the programs JARVIS and I used on my Iron Man suits…”

At least he managed to wiggle out of that embarrassing conversation. Thank goodness.

________

Maria finished making lunch and had asked Bruce to call everyone to the dining room. A few minutes after everyone arrived, she saw Tony and Howard emerged from the workshop. She delicately raised a brow when her husband looked like he had a few rounds with someone.

Even without an explanation, she knew that Howard somehow managed to convince her son to gain access to one of the suits and fly – rather unsuccessfully, from what she could discern based on those injuries and ruffled hair – but she wasn’t going to lecture the two about safety and whatnot. They did know better, after all.

“How can you fight with all that information running around on the interface?” Howard’s incredulous voice entered the kitchen.

“Because I’m awesome like that.” Tony answered rather gleefully with a snicker.

That explanation does not clarify anything all.

Additionally, she had no idea what those two were saying, but she wasn’t going to try to decipher it or ask them for an explanation in layman's terms. Their science talk baffled her then, and it still baffled her now. It was something she accepted when she married Howard.

She snapped out of her musing when the light conversations around table halted upon hearing Howard uttered one word.

“Steve.”

Well, it looked like her husband located a certain super soldier he had been meaning to speak with since their arrival.

“H-Howard. How…?”

“A certain God granted our wish. Well, Tony’s wish, but details.” Her husband didn’t bother to give a long explanation regarding their arrival, but his appreciative glance towards Loki seemed to expound the deed. “Now then, what is this I’ve heard about you withholding information about our deaths from my son? Don’t you think that’s something you should tell him?”

Maria bit back a smile when the super soldier visibly gulped at the inquires, and stammered, “I didn’t want to bring back old wounds by telling him. Besides, I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t Bucky.”

“You used our resources to find evidences for our killer. Sergeant Barnes was more important than my son?” Howard continued with a raised brow and in an unimpressed tone. His posture reminded her of the times when he spoke with the Stark Industries board members and they were being utter idiots.

“Howard, you have to understand that Bucky was – is – my friend from the 40s.” Steve pleaded earnestly with an equally earnest look. “HYDRA held him captive and brainwashed him for years. It wasn’t him that killed you and Maria.”

“I didn’t ask you who killed us or who didn’t. If you would like to discuss that matter, we can certainly do so. Later.” Her husband spoke in the same tone with crossed arms, but the connotation in that statement reminded her when Howard scolded Tony as a young child. “Right now, I'm asking you why you hid this information from Tony. Your response was wholly unsatisfactory. Would you like to try again?”

 “I didn’t want him to go after Bucky when he finds out.”

Maria glanced across the room when she heard a snort from the archer, who gave her a bashful grin when she looked at his direction. She directed her gaze to Tony, who seemed to be piling various Italian dishes she made onto Loki’s mounting plate, much to the Trickster God’s amusement and exasperation.

“As much as your loyalty to Sergeant Barnes is… fascinating, I suppose we could call it that, your actions cannot be justified.” Howard seemed to be on a roll. “What are you going to do after you saved Sergeant Barnes from his captors? Do you even possess enough resources to support him, or are you going to use ours?”

“That'll be interesting. Using our resources to support my parents’ murderer.” Tony commented offhandedly in a flippant tone.

“Bucky’s case isn’t that different from Loki. You forgave him when we found out he was brainwashed, so why can't you do the same?”

Maria raised a delicate brow when Steve had the audacity to be angry and seemed to direct that gaze towards her son, who was quietly conversing with Loki.

“We are not speaking about Sergeant Barnes' actions, but yours, Mr. Rogers.” She cut in tightly with a disapproving frown that could make grown men flinch, or so Howard and Edwin told her one evening after a board meeting. “I highly deplore your behavior, especially your judgmental manner in which you interact with Tony.”

“Let me ask you this: what are you if we remove the super soldier serum?” Howard continued relentlessly without giving Steve a chance to answer. “You'll be nothing but a sickly boy from Brooklyn who attempted and failed to get into the U.S. Army five times. I know your history, Steve, and I'm certain Tony does as well even if he doesn’t mention it whatsoever. You're not that special without the serum.”

No one dared to utter a word to counter that argument while Steve looked abashed by the lecture. It seemed others remembered that this was not their place to make any commentaries, despite however much they wanted to, especially Clint who repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.

In fact, it amused Maria that the only one who had the courage to say something was from her son, who was busy convincing a Norse God to try her famous lasagna.

“Seriously, Reindeer Games, mom's famous lasagna is the best. There is a reason why it's famous.”

“I'm sure it's a delight, Anthony.”

“You have to try her stuffed chicken too. It's so tender, it melts in your mouth.” Tony prattle on without a pause. “I can never this recipe right. It's a mystery.”

“Perhaps, you can ask Lady Maria for her assistance with this now.”

“You're right! Loki-bear, where have you been in my life?”

Maria was positive that had been a rhetorical question, but the Trickster God answered it anyway with a bemused smirk, “I was attempting to defeat this oaf for the throne, so you’ll have to forgive me if I didn’t meet you sooner.”

“Brother, you never wanted the throne.” Thor rumbled pointedly with the same amused tone.

“Yes, well, someone has to ascertain that you wouldn't remain complacent in your role or duties. We can't have you gallivanting around the Nine Realms on adventures and leaving bloodshed in your wake. I certainly wasn't going to clean up after you for the rest of my life simply because I am the second prince.”

It stunned Maria how multifaceted Loki was – from what she could discern, his mannerisms towards Hela, herself and Howard, Tony, and now Thor all differed from one another. It reminded her yet again of what little she remembered from her knowledge of Norse Gods, especially Loki and his many titles.

He certainly earned that Silvertongue moniker, if she could say so herself.

“We all know that King Helblindi wanted you to take the throne after him, so you will get your chance regardless, Loki." Thor added with a lighthearted smirk. “Please don't construct any statues of yourself this time. I don’t think Jötunheimr could handle seeing that many of you everywhere.”

Loki dramatically rolled his eyes at that response with great exasperation and rebelliousness – something Maria was certain no one else could achieve.

“I make no promises.” The Trickster God's mischievous smirk froze momentarily before his entire demeanor shifted into a serious one.

Three sheets of ice displaying two males Maria had yet to meet and Hela materialized before the God. Was this some sort of communication device between these immortal beings? Moreover, she inwardly noted that this was not a social call due to their seriousness and the sudden temperature drop in the room.

“Status report, dears.”

“It seems the mortals attempted to locate Aether utilizing its meager power within their possession.” The person in the middle panel reported grimly. “Suffice to say, their attempt beacons the other realms to Midgard. It will only be a matter of time before unsavory entities head here. Midgard is not ready for them, whatever the mortals may think, Master Loki.”

“What utter fools.” Loki sighed as he massaged his temple. “Very well. Jörmungandr, shut down all passages to Midgard and guard the stone. Fenrir, shut down the secret passages in Yggdrasil. Hela, fortify the security of the routes to your realm. We must cut off their access to Midgard posthaste.”

“Master Loki, what of the two souls in your care?” Hela’s inquiry made her froze.

As much as she wished to remain here for the permitted time (she was positive Howard felt the same if she read his frown correctly), the two of them did not withhold any power to protest. They were here due to Loki’s behest after all. Maria quickly glanced over to the Trickster God to see what he would do or say, but she couldn't discern anything from his blank expression.

“They will remain here until this threat has come to pass, if you don't mind, dear. It has only been a handful of hours since their arrival. We did promise them 24 hours, and if the time goes over the allotted time, so be it.”

Relief and gratitude immediately encompassed her person when she heard that response, and shared a quick glance and a smile with Howard before she looked over to Tony, who visibly beamed at Loki.

“Will you be safe without a large portion of your seiðr? It does take considerable effort to maintain two souls’ physical bodies simply with seiðr alone.”

“I thank you for your concern, love, but I can still be a formidable opponent without my Illusion and Fire abilities. Now then dears, please see to your duties.” Loki's casual response made him sound like he was discussing the weather and not world damnation.

The chorus of, “Yes, Master Loki,” echoed in the otherwise silent room before the sheets of ice shattered and broke that silence.

No one knew what to say following that exchange, until Tony said, “Loki, have I told you how awesome you are?” in an awed tone.

That bemused look and smirk somehow made the Trickster God looked more ethereal than he already was. The mischievous glint in his eyes didn't reassure her either, especially when he uttered, “Yes, I know, Anthony. You do have a shrine dedicated to me, after all. I stumbled upon that room when I traveled from Hela's domain to here.”

Maria could not help but laugh when she saw the horrified expression on Tony's face.


	12. Chapter 12

“Loki, you gave up your Fire and Illusion abilities for Lady Maria and Sir Howard?” Thor questioned in startled with knitted brows. “Those two are your strongest powers at your disposal. Surely, body creation spell does not require this sort of cost for its exchange.”

He shrugged in response to that remark, not wanting to explain the spell in its details, so he took a sip of the red wine he was not supposed to be drinking (since he was underaged under Midgardian drinking age standard). It tasted 12% better than Asgardian mead, and because no one bothered to stop him, he drained the content in his glass. Once he finished, he placed it back on the table with an audible ‘clank’ that resonated through the interestingly silent room.

He gave a roguish smirk at the Thunder God, “I didn't want to execute the spell halfheartedly. That would be unjust for our guests, don’t you think so, Thor? Besides, you forget my Jötun physiology and that I am also a God of Chaos.”

“Ah, I have forgotten about that detail. You are practically a personification of Heart of Midgard with those powers.” Thor rumbled with a sheepish smile.

“What is this Heart of Midgard?” Howard interjected with a confused frown.

“It's a Reality Stone. It basically lets its user warp reality, from what I understand.” Tony explained with knitted brows. “Wait a minute, Lokes, you have those powers?”

Loki bit back a smirk and a chuckle at the confused expression from the Avengers, but he did not bother to offer an explanation. He supposed they would feel that way since he rarely showed other powers in his arsenal.

“But you use your Ice abilities more than your Chaos abilities, even though the latter is clearly more powerful.” Thor pointed out in a puzzled tone. “Why is that, Loki?”

“I understand that you have no interests in seiðr and its lessons, brother. However, you must be dreadfully foolish if you think controlling chaotic matters doesn't involve high risks.” He responded with a scoff. “And yes, it is that dangerous that I can count with one hand the amount of times I've used that power in my lifetime.”

He pointedly ignored the contemplative expression on his brother's face, and plopped a piece of stuffed chicken in his mouth. He had to admit, Anthony was right – the chicken melted in his mouth with spices and flavors bursting out with each bite. He could eat this all day, not that he would since he had to consider his Midgardian alias. 

“Ah! The times you faked your deaths. Those were the only times you've ever used them!” Thor exclaimed in an understanding tone, which transformed into a mixture of an annoyed scowl and a pout that only his brother could do. “I mourned for you, Loki. All three times.”

“Regardless, you need to plan your next course of actions properly.” He dismissed that topic altogether since he wasn’t a sentimental fool.

It wasn't his fault that his oafish brother kept falling for those tricks - after all, one would think that Thor would be able to discern this by the second time he utilized it. Moreover, he didn't want to explain how he faked his deaths because those were his tricks alone, and he wasn't keen on sharing his secrets to anyone.

As Midgardians tended to say, a magician never reveals his tricks.

“Does that mean you aren't going to help us anymore?” Bruce questioned with a puzzled look. “I thought you were helping us.”

He knew it would come to this upon answering that call from Thor days prior. He gave an exasperated stab to the defenseless stuffed chicken with his fork, which he pointed at a general direction of the Avengers standing around him as if he was holding a wand.

“Fenrir will be giving you protection talismans when he has completed his task. This will ensure that what little power of Aether your foe possessed will not work on you. Secondly, Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and I have secured hidden paths to Midgard in Yggdrasil. Which means, other beings in Nine Realms or from Beyond cannot enter here for a foreseeable period. That leaves you, the Avengers, to defeat your foes by yourselves. I do hope you do it soon. Just because we are powerful, it does not mean that we can secure the hidden paths for eternally.”

“How do we know you're telling the truth?” Natasha questioned suspiciously. “We don't know the hidden routes like you do, since they're supposedly only accessible to you. We also don't possess magic like you, so we don't know if your talismans could protect us.”

“It's your directive if you want to trust me and my abilities, Lady Natasha.” He answered with a shrug. “I certainly do not have to help you. After all, I can just as easily forsake this Realm, just as I can help you protect it. As I've told Anthony previously, I am not a benevolent God – I can be both merciful and merciless, even if I had forsaken two of my most powerful abilities now.”

“Natashalie, I know we don't understand magic and the whole voodoo it entails, but let's not anger Loki, yes?” Tony cut in with frantic waving hands.

Loki simply smirked when the Black Widow rolled her eyes, but did not say anything more on that topic.

“So, what are we going to do with the Stars and Stripes here?” Clint's question transferred his attention to a certain Captain America sitting at a corner of the breakfast bar. “Can we trust him to be in the battleground with us?”

“The person he has wronged is Tony.” Bruce remarked with a small frown. “It's your call, Tony. We'll back your play.”

The Trickster God resisted the urge to chuckle at the choked-up expression on Anthony's face at others’ support, but he patiently waited for a response. Dr. Banner was correct in that the decision was up to Anthony – neither he nor others had the directive to make that decision.

“I suppose we could trust Rogers.” Anthony replied with an indecisive frown. “I mean, it's the fate of the world and all that. I can't be selfish.”

“I'm sure Loki wouldn't mind turning him into a goldfish or something if he misbehaves.” Clint commented callously with a dark smirk.

“You don't have to go that far.” 

“I wouldn't be so sure of that, Steve, considering your behavior and devotion to Sergeant Barnes.” Howard scoffed with an eye roll. “Makes me wonder if you were ever going to inform Tony. But I digress.”

“I presume you have a plan, Loki.” Thor commented casually with a raised brow, changing the topic once more. “You wouldn't be this calm otherwise.”

“Thor.”

He bit back a sharp grin when the Thunder God visibly recoiled at his cold tone. He hid his amusement behind his cold gaze and arched a brow when his brother remained mum for a moment. It always amused him when he displayed his uncaring God persona since Thor – the more benevolent among the two – always disagreed with that attitude.

He inwardly approved when Thor managed to choke out, “Yes, brother?” without sounding like it unnerved him.

“Remind me once again, why I am I doing all the work? _Again._ ” Loki spoke with an air of airiness that could mistakenly put others at false safety. “What merits do I gain by helping you, hmm?”

“You’ll get Friend Anthony’s adoring devotion, which I am positive you find it quite amusing. He did make a shrine dedicated to you after all, which, I, admittedly, have seen as well.” His brother replied with a mischievous grin directed at the mentioned Avenger’s sputtering denials and horrified look. “Moreover, your Jörmungandr is the protector of Heart of Midgard, so you do have the duty to see to its safety as his master. Or were you thinking of withdrawing from your duties? I must warn you that, I will have to inform Father if you decided to do so.”

Loki gave a series of unenthusiastic claps at the Thunder God’s statement, and rolled his eyes before he uttered, “Wow, Thor. You learned how to blackmail me. Well done,” in the driest flat tone he could manage.

“I am rather curious about this shrine you made, Tony.” Clint interjected thoughtfully while a thoughtful hum. “Where is this room?”

“I’m not telling you, Birdbrain.”

"I'll find it myself then." 

“Furthermore, I know you have a plan to defeat our foes, or mayhap, you have already done so and haven’t informed us.” Thor continued with an amused smile.

Loki resisted the urge to scowl at the assumption, and opened his mouth to counter with that argument when Fenrir phased into the room. An amused smirk appeared on his lips when his pet managed to startle nearly everyone – some more than others (i.e.: Clint, who stumbled out of the bar stool and fell on the ground).

“Lady Maria, Sir Howard, may I introduce you to my pet, Fenrir.” He gestured the newest addition to the compound to his pet, who gave a courteous bow towards the two formerly dead souls. “Love, these are Anthony’s parents. They’re visiting from Hela’s domain.”

His pet politely exchanged greetings with Anthony’s parents, and then looked at his direction with a serious look. Wordlessly, Fenrir waved a hand to materialize a small enchanted pouch, and said, “Master Loki, your requested items from Alfheimr.”

He accepted the item with a grateful nod, and handed the item to Anthony’s unsuspecting hands. “Thank you, dear. Anthony, since you upgrade everyone’s weaponry, I suggest you infuse these talismans to your suits for protection.”

“Another thing is, Master Loki.” He redirected his attention to Fenrir at that serious tone and raised a quizzical brow when he saw that frown. “Securing Midgard’s passageways had peaked others’ attention. I noticed some creatures from Beyond inching towards our Yggdrasil when Aether beaconed briefly a while back. I believe you know who these creatures are and to whom their master is if I mentioned their name – Chitauri.”

“I trust that you obliterated them?”

“Yes, Master. They didn’t know what hit them.” Fenrir replied quite smugly with a smirk. “I didn’t even need to lift a finger to make that happen.”

Loki hummed approvingly in response, but did not bother to clarify or offer an explanation to the confused gazes around him.

________

“So, Fenrir, I presume you have powers like Loki does.” He directed his attention from the television screen to the direction of Howard’s voice momentarily. “What’s yours?”

It was his fifth day at the compound, he inwardly noted.  

Master Loki had left him with Prince Thor and the Avengers with a command to help the heroes defeat their foes. Not that it was much work for him – he could simply use his powers and be done with it, but he wanted to know how these so-called shield brethren that Prince Thor gathered would fare. He supposed Master Loki does too, considering the bare minimum of help the Trickster God gave.

So far, the only plan the group (excluding him) came up with was to wait for their foes to make the first move. Which, he must admit, was not the greatest plan they could strategize, but considering most of the Avengers happened to be mortals… he supposed he could forgive them.

Thus, he was lying down on a sectional couch like he owned the furniture while he played Mario Kart with Clint, Thor, and Natasha. Much to the archer’s ire, he, who was playing for the first time, was winning by a long shot. Thor, amusingly, was in the last place for the third time – although the Thunder God came in seventh a couple of times. Natasha, on the other hand, was catching up and almost overthrown his digital throne a few times.

“Eat my red shell, Thor.” He exclaimed gleefully as he shot the said item towards Thor’s character, Bowser. He laughed at the anguished cry from his left when Bowser spun out of control while he zipped through the finish line. “I shall remind Master Loki that you shouldn’t be driving on any Midgardian roads henceforth. Your lack of coordination is thoroughly appalling.”

“Fenrir, you’re simply misusing your powers.” The Thunder God grumbled with a mock glare at his direction.

“What do you mean?” Clint questioned alarmingly and warningly looked at his direction. “Young man, have you been using your powers when you played with us?”

“Better yet, Fenny, what’s your powers?” Tony interrupted with furrowed brows from the other side of the room. “Huh, you never told us that. You only mentioned that you’re the God of Revolution, whatever that means. And that you could turn me into a wolf.”

He put down the controller and looked over the curious expressions with a smirk, “To put it very simply in ways you can understand, probability manipulation.”

“One of the reasons why Loki forbade you from playing Midgardian lotto.” Thor commented in a dry tone with great exasperation. “You’ll win the first prize easily.”

“You’re just jealous that your luck is rather lacking, Prince Thor.” Fenrir rebutted wittily with a wolfish grin. “And please, don’t blame me for it because you brought it upon yourself. Like that time when you lost Mjölnir, and you had to dress like a bride to retrieve it.”

“There is a story there. We all need to hear it.” Tony interjected hastily with gleaming yet eager eyes. “Wait a minute! We need popcorn for this. I’ll be right back, and don’t start without me!”

“Friend Anthony, it’s not that great of a tale. Really.” His wolfish grin only grew wider and sharper at the Thunder God’s protests.

Fenrir snorted at the denial, and rebutted with a, “It’s the most interesting tale in Asgard, Prince Thor. His Majesty, Odin, agrees as well – after all, he had recorded in the Archives for future generations. There are pictures as well, if you are interested in using them to recall the tale, Prince Thor.”

The Thunder God simply groaned in distressed in response.

He watched amusedly when Tony returned with an armful of three buckets of popcorn that teetered precariously in those arms. He smirked mischievously at the distraught expression on Thor while he accepted a bucket of popcorn, which he had to share with the archer sitting next to him.

“Alright, we’re ready.” Tony quipped while obnoxiously chewing on those popcorn.

“So, it began like this.” Fenrir chuckled gleefully, completely dismissing the groan from a couple of feet away from him. “Prince Thor woke up one morning to find that Mjölnir was missing…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of adding an interlude of sorts about Tony and a certain shrine of his. Thoughts?


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony's affection, if we could call it that, towards Loki knows no bounds. He has the money and the resources to make it happen. 
> 
> In short, this chapter includes that shrine.

Clint was on a top-secret self-appointed solo mission – one that involved great stealth, cunningness, superb hand-eye coordination, and quick reaction time. One that wasn’t related to SHIELD or Avengers, which meant no one knew about this mission that he decided to embark in the middle of the night, and he definitely wasn’t in on a prank war with a certain billionaire.

Which reminded him that he still had to get his revenge for the last prank war – he certainly does not appreciate having a perfectly edible pie thrown in his face whenever he opened the drawers or cabinets in the kitchen. He couldn’t believe he fell for that elementary level trick. A certain Trickster God would be so ashamed, and speaking of a certain Trickster God… this secret mission _does_ relate to Tony and Loki.

Yes, he was on his way to uncover that infamous secret room in the compound housed a particular shrine that everyone seemed to know but couldn’t find it.

Well, he could ask Thor (who had already seen it) for its location, but the Thunder God seemed to have stepped on Fenrir’s tail (metaphorically, of course) with a jab or three and ended up transformed into a wolf pup as a result. He does not speak puppy language, and it would have been funny if he didn't need Thor's enlistment in locating the ‘Loki-Shrine', which he dubbed it brilliantly. On a side note, he did manage to capture plenty of puppy-Thor pictures for future blackmail purposes that he might need.

Thus, with great stealth as a result from his days in circus and as a spy, he quietly resumed crawling through air vents with a headlight strapped on his forehead. He would accomplishment this self-appointed solo mission with his wits and skills without any help whatsoever.

“Now, if I were Tony, where would I put the shrine?” He muttered under his breath, and pulled out his cellphone.

He needed to consult with a blueprint of the compound he managed to obtain after spending several days of intelligence gathering. He wasn't going to reveal his tricks by explaining how he accomplished that deed. Even though he might not have the clearance to enter a couple of the rooms in the compound (mostly Tony’s workshops, which he didn't care about), if Thor could enter this hidden room then he believed he certainly could too.

After going through myriads of unnecessary twists and turns, wherein he nearly cursed Tony for making these routes, he dropped down to a lone corridor. He glanced around the premise, faintly remembering that this location was between Tony's workshop and bedroom.

“Huh… And here I thought this room was a storage of some sort.”

He looked around the area once more, and flipped off at a camera hidden behind a decorative light piece (just because he could). He headed towards a nondescript door that anyone could mistaken it for a storage room, and casually picked its lock like he was using a master key instead of a tool.

Oh yeah, he's good, if he says so himself (and he does).

“Alright, let's see what's the big deal.” He snickered under his breath.

He pushed the door opened, turned on the lights, and blatantly stared at the scene before him. His jaw unhinged, his eyes widened, and silence echoed in the room before he started laughing.

“Seriously, Tony. A statue? Damn, you went all out.” He snorted as he stared at three-foot statue. “This is so weird on so many levels.”

He shifted his gaze to other items in the room, noticing assorted sizes of laminated pictures of Loki from various magazines plastered on the wall. He speculated that some were custom-made since they were life-sized. There were even several shelves of assorted Loki figurines in various sizes, poses, and costumes.

“Damn, this isn't creepy at all.” He stared at what he presumed to be the large poster of most recent picture of Loki dressed in a school uniform.

His gaze landed on a small altar with a glass of whiskey, a small red velvet cake, a toy dagger, and some incense in front of that three-foot Loki statue. It was very interesting, to say the least, and he was wording that very politely.

Very politely, he liked to emphasize once more for a good measure. 

“I thought he was kidding when he mentioned that he's going to worship Loki.”

Clint snickered under his breath, and pulled out his cellphone to snap several pictures. These were such blackmail materials – although he doesn't know when he would use them, but he would find a use for it, surely.

He eyed at the statues – yes, he managed to find more than one and they were in various sizes – and snapped a few more pictures, just for a good measure.

“Makes me wonder what Loki thought of this when he saw the place.”

Once he finished, he exited the room and locked it behind him. He flipped off at the lone camera yet again (just because he could because he had a feeling Tony would be viewing the tape at one point), and walked down the hallway while he whistled a merry tune under his breath.

Mission accomplished, if he says so himself.

________

Tony vibrated in his seat in excitement as he stared at his (latest, not on the market yet) Stark-Phone, and stared at the screen in his disbelief. He waved dismissively at the mildly annoyed expression from others for disrupting their strategizing meeting with his antics while he immediately searched to determine if the information in his email held true.

“What got you so excited, son?” His father questioned bemusedly with a raised brow.

He made some nonsensical noises that was akin to gasping, and finally managed to form coherent words to say, “Thor! Did you know that _Lukas Skywalker_ is going to star in a movie?”

He halfheartedly listened when Thor hummed in response and said, “I was not aware of that development, Friend Anthony. Loki does not share any details regarding his Midgardian alias with me. I believe he thinks I will interfere with his life and embarrass him.”

“That’s because you usually do, Prince Thor.” Fenrir commented offhandedly. “You don’t know how to operate many Midgardian gadgets, nor do you understand Midgardian’s culture and politics to maneuver in this realm as seamlessly as Master Loki.”

“Politics is not my strong suit, Fenrir. Surely, you are aware of that.” The Thunder God frowned at the remark.

“Let’s hope you fix that before you ascend to the throne, Prince Thor. Master Loki won’t always be there to save your behind.”

Clint’s incredulous tone of, “You’re excited about Loki being in a movie? I don’t get why this is a big deal.” made him stare at the archer disapprovingly.

He supposed not everyone could understand his excitement about Loki – not that he would understand it himself if someone asked him about this detail a few months prior. It was a recent fixation, if he could call it that, since the Trickster God gave him an opportunity to come to terms with his parents’ deaths, and then allowed him to interact with them.

“A lot of models do go into acting, Tony.” Natasha commented in an almost bored tone.

“But this is Loki! We need to go there and give him our support.” Tony retorted with a pointed look towards his teammates. “Besides, it’ll be good to have some sort of vacation from all the attacks Doom and HYDRA.”

“And who’s going to stop them if there happened to be an attack here?” Rogers’ retaliation made him pause in his excitement.

He had to admit, it was a valid point – not that he would admit it to the super soldier – but it wouldn’t dampen his zeal to see Loki in the God’s work environment. He was going to go see Loki modeling (or acting, or whatever schedule the Trickster had) one way or another, and no one was going to stop him.

“I’m sure Fenny or Loki could teleport us if the need arises, right Fenny?”

He looked over to the aforementioned being, and patiently waited (that is, as patiently as he could) for a response until he heard, “That is something I can do, yes.”

“Do you even know where Loki is staying at, son?” Howard asked in an amused.

He still could not get used to the fact that his father seemed entertained by his enthusiasm towards the Trickster God. Despite the fact it had been three weeks (the whole 21 days) since his parents’ arrival, his interaction with his father still left him in awe, and he had to ponder if this was his reality. He had to wonder if this would be the way he and his father would interact had they still lived.

Nevertheless, he was extremely grateful to Loki for giving him this chance. He wouldn’t know what to do when they had to return, but that was in the far future (hopefully), so he would worry about that later. 

“Thor, my buddy, my best pal –”

“I’m sorry, Friend Anthony; I cannot betray Loki’s trust like this.”

Tony resisted the urge to scowl at that solemn answer and the fact that the Thunder God seemed to be biting back a smirk. He then turned his direction to Fenrir considering he knew that the Revolution God knew Loki’s location due to a certain ninja-like teleportation skill.  

“Fenrir, my new best friend, you have to tell me. It's been three whole weeks since I've seen him. That's 21 days... or 504 hours... or 30240 minutes.”

He decided to ignore the exasperated expression on Clint’s face or that eye roll from Rogers. He looked hopefully at Fenrir, who seemed thoroughly amused by his endeavor but exchanged glances with Thor. Even if he could decipher what those glances meant, he wasn’t going to attempt to do so, simply because it was too much work.

“I could ask JARVIS to look it up for me, if you won’t tell me.” Tony grumbled when that silent communication took too long.

“I doubt Loki’s location is in the system, dear.” Maria commented with a laugh, sounding as if she knew something he didn’t.

“Besides, I’d think he would want to know that his talismans worked. We didn't have serious injuries from those attacks whatsoever. And he could give us his input on our strategy since Thor mentioned that he’s one of the best combat strategists in Nine Realms.”

“I highly doubt that’s the main reason you wanted to visit him.” Natasha smirked knowingly.

Tony grinned widely and beamed visibly when Fenrir gave a deep exasperated sigh, looking as if the God was going to do something regretful. With some grumbles about how this was a bad idea, which he vehemently disagreed with, he accepted a piece of paper scribbled with an address.

“Wait a second. Of all locations in the world, why did he choose South Korea?”

________

Loki wanted to curse his new manager for the hectic schedule the mortal saddled him with. By curse, he meant in mere words that mortals seemed to be fond of doing, and not actual curse that he could do with his seiðr. He was not in the mood for his mother’s lecture on misusage of seiðr, thank you very much.

Despite the fact that he does not mind staying up late or waking up early before dawn, he liked sleeping for the simple fact that it replenished his seiðr. If he wasn’t tired, he would have smirked that his glare almost made his manager soil those new pants when the mortal came to wake him at unjust hour of three o’clock in the morning (if one could call that hour ‘morning’) to usher him to a salon to prepare for a commercial shoot.

“It’s astonishing that Býleistr managed to find his replacement in such a short time.” He grumbled under his breath, and paused in his track when he felt several presences inside his apartment.

He could have easily conjured a house similar to Anthony with his seiðr, but he didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention unto himself. His stay in Midgard was for his banishment, according to his father; however, he felt like he was ensuring that Thor does not do anything idiotic more often than not. This included saving Thor and the Avengers constantly from whatever foe or foes that decided to overthrow his plan for the day.

But he digresses.

He wordlessly keyed in his passcode to his door, warily pondering at the reason for those presences in his apartment, and opened the door. Loki stared the scene before him – Fenrir, Thor, and their merry band of Avengers were lounging (and making a mess) in his previously pristine living room – before he decided to close the door. He wished he could pretend he did not see them at all. 

“Hey, wait a minute! What’s the big idea, Loki?”

Despite the frantic inquiry from Anthony, he decided it was a dreadful idea to reenter his apartment. He definitely did not ask for any visitors at nine in the evening (it was one of the rare days he finished his schedule early), and he wasn’t keen on entertaining those guests either. More importantly, his one-bedroom apartment, no matter how spacious it looked, could not handle housing everyone if they decided to stay.

“Hotel, it is.”

“You’re not staying at a hotel.”

He sputtered indignantly when Anthony tugged him back inside his apartment against his wish, and pulled him into the living room where everyone was watching a Korean drama. The archer was complaining about lack of English subtitle and not being able to understand Korean, much to everyone’s annoyance.

“Welcome home, Master Loki.” Fenrir greeted him with mischievous glints. “Anthony wanted to visit you, and everyone else decided to come along for the ride.”

He grumbled under his breath about disobedient pets, because he knew it was Fenrir’s doing if those mischievous glints said anything. Instead, he decided to ignore the messy living room to head towards his bedroom – a room he hoped others stayed out of.

“I also made dinner if you haven’t had it yet, Master Loki!”

He paused in his midstride to look over to Fenrir, and said, “Do tell me that is not your peace offering, pet,” in a calm tone he knew that would unnerve the wolf.

He rolled his eyes incredulously when his pet gave him a wide yet seemingly innocent grin, and silently questioned his sanity about his reason for putting up with such nonsense. His gaze then glanced over others before he heaved a deep exasperated sigh at Anthony’s hopeful gleams.

 “I’ll deal with whatever nonsense you brought with you _after_ I showered and had dinner. Until then, kindly amuse yourselves and clean up after those messes.”

There goes his peaceful night, he grumbled inwardly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm estimating this story to be at 20 chapters, but we'll have to see if that will be the case.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My cousin and I were planning to go to a theme park today. So we got ready and were about to leave, and I checked to see if I had my annual pass. I happened to check the back to see the blackout dates, just to make sure. Turned out, today was one of the blackout dates =w=;;;
> 
> And wow, I can't believe this story has come this far. Thanks everyone for all those comments, kudos, bookmarks, and subscriptions.

Loki inwardly sighed when he reentered the now-cleaned living room, and took a seat on an armrest of a couch next to Fenrir. As much as he does not want to deal with whatever nonsense the Avengers brought into his once-peaceful one-bedroom apartment, he knew that they wouldn't leave him be if he did not.

“Fenrir, you and I will be having a word later about the importance of privacy.”

“I’m so sorry, Master Loki.” At least his pet had the decency to look chastised.

He calmly directed his attention towards his…guests lounging in his living room. Interestingly, Anthony was flipping through a fashion magazine that he had just completed just a few days prior, and was snapping various pictures with that Stark-Phone. He had a feeling those pictures were going to be a new addition to that shrine soon.

“Now then, tell me the reason for your visit.” Loki began in a calm tone that seemed to unnerve the group. He bit back a smirk when they flinched at his tone, and added, “I hope you have a good reason for your sake, otherwise… let’s just say, you won’t like what I will do to you.”

“So, those talismans that you gave us worked perfectly.” Anthony blabbed while putting down the fashion magazine. “We managed to counter Doom and HYDRA when they attacked us – at least neutralized their attacks and we managed to get a few shots in before they left.”

“And… how or why is this my concern, Anthony?”

“Brother, I know you don’t want to do anything with us.” Thor began with a sheepish look that made him weary.

He had a feeling this was beginning to be one of those cases where a certain oaf would drag him headstrongly into an adventure he does not want to partake in. Then again, he supposed that he was already in one since he was helping with their current foes.

“But you are the best tactician in the Nine Realms. If anyone could help us solve this, it is you.” His brother continued.

There was a Midgardian saying for this: out of the frying pan and into the fire. He believed that was the phrase.

“We can’t wait for them to make their move first. We need to find their hideout.” Natasha added with a small frown. “You know where that is, don’t you?”

Loki raised a brow at her inquiry, which sounded akin to an accusation that he decided to dismiss in favor of giving her an unimpressed look. He then looked at others to see they were looking at the exchange with poorly veiled interest – somehow, it made him believe that there was another reason for their visit.

“Do you want to try that again, and perhaps give me the real reason for your visit?”

“Of course, you wouldn’t believe that.” Anthony remarked in a defeated tone, sounding almost resignedly. “It’s one of the reasons for our visit, Loki-bear. There was someone we saw during one of the attacks –”

“From the footages Steve and I analyzed, we concluded that this person is Sergeant Barnes.” Howard interjected with a thoughtful frown. “Interestingly, HYDRA called him Winter Soldier.”

“Who also happened to be the one who assassinated both mom and dad.” Anthony chimed in with a false cheerful tone. “We have reasons to believe that HYDRA had brainwashed him. For one, he didn't recognize dad or Rogers upon seeing them. Second, those HYDRA goons said a series of words in Russian, which we believe were trigger words. Which is why, we believe he wasn’t doing it out of his own will, so we have to rescue him from them.”

“They don't seem to be using your Glowing Stick of Destiny.” Clint added with a thoughtful frown.

Loki looked at them quizzically at their explanation, and repeated slowly, “Glowing Stick of Destiny?”

“I believe Agent Barton means the Mind Stone, brother.”

“I've gathered that, Thor.” He grumbled at the unhelpful quip, and not minded to the fact that he interrupted. “What I want to know is the horrendous name you've given to it.”

“Loki, this is neither the place or time to lecture on Anthony's lack of naming sense. We all know he needs to improve greatly on that matter."

“Hey!”

“What we want to know is how we can stop Winter Soldier.” Natasha cut in to the conversation. "If we can get him to our side, or at the very least, snap him out of the HYDRA brainwash, we'd win half the battle.”

Loki did not bother to say anything for a few seconds, and opted to sit in a contemplative silence. It wasn't that he didn't want to help them with this task, but he wasn't disillusioned to believe that this fight would be over after the brainwashing had been removed.

Where would this Sergeant Barnes go afterwards?

Surely, Anthony would not be foolish to house this man after knowing that he assassinated Howard and Maria. Mind controlled cases were utterly unique in that, on one hand, it was not the victim's fault; yet, it was the victim who did these deeds.

When does one fault or forgive them in order to heal? There was no such clear answer to this – after all, he still had difficulty coming terms with the destruction he wrought to New York. Not that he could tell anyone about this detail.

“Stopping him is the easy part. Fenrir could do very easily using his powers. The concern is what comes henceforth. Supposed you've stopped Winter Soldier and made him snap out of his HYDRA programming.” He began pensively with a frown. “How are you going to rehabilitate him?”

No one uttered a word as they seemed to contemplate on his reasoning. It was rather discerning that none of them – as far as he knew – seemed to calculate their moves beyond relinquishing Sergeant Barnes from HYDRA. Certainly, Fenrir would know better about this matter; however, when he looked at his pet now, it made him realize that Fenrir had given the reign of planning to the Avengers.

“I do have something to help him with that.” Anthony commented after a long silence. “BARF. Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing. I know, I know, I need to work on my awesome naming skills. It’s a prototype I made for a presentation in MIT, and improved it later. Long explanation short, it’s a pair of glasses that connects with the user’s hippocampus that allows it to find a certain traumatic memory, alter it, and project that memory onto an external infrastructure. The user would then reexperience the memory and work through the traumatic experience.”

“That would certainly help with PTSDs.” Clint remarked approvingly with several nods. “Let me guess, you haven’t mass produced this for the public yet.”

Anthony made some noises in agreement, “I couldn’t bring the price down to be public-friendly yet. But if we could get Barnes out of HYDRA control, he can use it. We just have to do something about the trigger words, and get those out of his system.”

“I can destroy the control HYDRA has on him easily.” Fenrir pointed out.

“You came all this way to tell me this?” Loki looked at his pet in disbelief and arched a brow quizzically with a frown. “You seemed to have a semi-sound strategy for your next move. Now, tell me the real reason for your visit.”

“That's rather easy. Tony said you’re staring in a drama, and he wanted to come support you.” Howard commented with a smirk. “We’ve came along because it’s amusing to see this side of him.”

He hummed understandingly and knowingly at that statement. Now, that sounded like a true intention and reason for their sudden visit rather than that half-baked strategy they uttered earlier.

“What he said.” Clint gave a wide grin despite some dying noises Anthony was making in the background.

“This is not some ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ scenario, is it?” He gave a pointed look towards the group to try to discern their true intentions.

“Loki, you’re more assimilated to our culture than Thor.” Bruce observed with an amused look. “And you’ve been here on shorter time than him.”

“I am far better at politics than this oaf. Everyone on Asgard and perhaps, even all Nine Realms, knows this.”

________

Sometimes, he questioned his decision (and perhaps, regret it) after he gave his consent. This was such the case - once again, he traveled (via one of his spells) across the ocean to New York simply because his pet called for his help. It didn't help that Anthony gave him that poor excuse of puppy dog eyes in attempt to persuade him. 

He was getting too soft. 

Loki inwardly sighed aggravatedly as he dodged another wave of energy blast from his foes, and nimbly landed a few feet away from his previous spot. He ended up being in a fight regardless despite his express resolution to stay away from it. He supposed it was not the Avengers’ fault that they couldn't handle anything of magical nature – then again, he could always fault Thor for not paying attention during mother’s seiðr lessons.

Had the oaf paid attention, he would not be in this situation right now. He could have been watching his drama shows or memorizing his lines for his own drama.

“I’m growing tired of this foolishness.” He straightened from his crouch and eyed at his pet from his peripheral vision. “Fenrir, dear, annihilate them if you please.”

“Yes, Master Loki.”

Those three words were the only warning everyone in the premise received before his pet transformed into a large wolf. With each step that sent shockwaves and rumbles akin to a small earthquake, Fenrir stalked towards the Doom-bots, Winter Soldier, HYDRA agents, and sorcerers with unnatural grace and ease. He could not believe that they had the audacity to unleash an array of Doom-bots in broad daylight unto unsuspecting civilians, and that the Avengers called upon his help once more. 

Not that he was providing much help right now, if he had to be truthful. 

“Whoa, that’s Fenrir?” Clint seemed to balk at his pet’s large stature. “He’s huge. Like six stories tall huge. How can he be that huge?”

“That’s his beast form.” He decided to explain even though it was not much of an explanation. “You wouldn’t want to contest him in this form.”

“No kidding.”

Loki crossed his arms and watched with a cold smirk on his lips when each attack their foes unleashed bounced off Fenrir’s fur. Unsurprisingly, the bullets that headed towards him and the other Avengers simply reduced into a pile of ashes while the sorcerers’ magic flickered out like candles in the wind.

"Probability manipulation at its fundamental form." He noted under his breath with a smug smirk. 

With a gleaming claw poised in the air, Fenrir swiped at the foes like a bored feline and knocked them out in one attack. He chuckled under his breath when a couple of sorcerers began making intricate patterns with their magic in attempt to confine his pet. It was rather interesting how this battlefield ended up littered with bodies of their foes within seconds of its commencement.

“That’s rather unwise of them to challenge us.” He commented in a bored tone, and flicked his gaze at a couple of HYDRA agents who attempted to ambush him from behind. “And this was an unwise decision for you as well.”

He waved away the mortals, who let out a strangled cry before getting thrown away with his seiðr. He didn’t bother to see where the fool landed, and refocused his attention onto the battle a few feet away from him. It looked like the Winter Soldier had snapped out of HYDRA conditioning due to one of Fenrir’s spells, and looked confused by the current battlefield.

Probability of HYDRA's brainwashing techniques working on Sergeant Barnes again, zero. 

“What is going on here?” The Winter Soldier – no, Sergeant Barnes exclaimed confusedly.

Loki narrowed his gaze when he saw three seemingly executive members of HYDRA uttered some words – which he concluded were words to control Sergeant Barnes. He flicked his gaze towards Fenrir, who gave a subtle nod of understanding and a feral grin in response.

“Those would never work on him again, you fool.” Fenrir rumbled rather gleefully, and shifted back into an Aesir form. “We will be taking him into our custody, thank you very much.”

That was the only warning his pet gave to those mortals before a wave of seiðr knocked them out. He must confess that it was a rather lackluster fight, more so than the first one Thor insisted he helped with. Regardless, they managed to obtain the results they wanted – that was, to rescue Sergeant Barnes from HYDRA’s grasp.

“Bucky.” 

“Steve?" 


	15. Chapter 15

Fenrir wearily glanced at the occupants and at the noticeable tension in the room. There was a clear division between Steve Rogers, Anthony and two older Starks, and other Avengers. From what he could tell, the latter clearly chose to remain quiet about the issues between the two former parties. He flicked his gaze over to the newcomer, who introduced as James Barnes – he had no idea how the nickname ‘Bucky’ came to be, but he knew it wasn’t the right time to question that.

Instead, he shifted his gaze onto his master to see that Loki, sitting nearby Anthony, had the entire attention directed at a booklet that read ‘The Truth Untold’. Apparently, his Master Loki seemed to have decided that memorizing lines for a movie was more important than dealing with the current drama in the room. Yet, at the same time, opted to remain in the said room to give some moral support to Anthony… at least, that was what he concluded.

“How is this possible?” Steve uttered in total disbelief, breaking the silence. “I – I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Bucky.”

He gave a smirk when Howard flicked a cold gaze onto the publicly proclaimed ‘Captain America’ to say, “So, you’ve been using _my_ money – or rather, _Tony’s_ money and resources to look for Sergeant Barnes? To look for our killer?”

“Howard, you know that Bucky is innocent.” Fenrir greatly resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that insistence.

Just how many times must he, and others, have to hear those same words repeatedly?

“I may not understand what’s going on, but I can understand well enough what you are implying. Don’t you dare say it wasn’t me because the fact makes you uncomfortable, punk.” Barnes interjected sharply with a leveled glare towards Rogers. “I may have been the weapon, but it was still my hands that killed them.”

Good to know that _someone_ knew the consequences of his actions. At least now, he knew that he didn’t make a wrong judgment when he used his powers to counter HYDRA’s brainwash in Barnes.

“But Bucky, it was –”

It seemed Barnes ignored those redundant words in favor of looking at Howard and Maria with a quizzical look, and blurted out, “The hell? Mind someone explaining to me how these two are here, or am I seeing their ghosts?”

At least he wasn’t alone when he heard some stifled snickers – apparently, someone else in the room thought that was funny too.

“You’re not hallucinating, James.” Master Loki responded without looking up from that script booklet. “Hela – my pet and the Goddess of Death – granted Lady Maria and Sir Howard to stay in this realm, provided I forgo some of my powerful abilities, until the current situation with Heart of Midgard, an ancient talisman, has been dealt with. Incidentally, I am Loki, God of Mischief, Illusion, Fire, Chaos, and Change. Sitting there is my pet, Fenrir, God of Revolution. He is the one who broke you out of HYDRA’s control.”

“Hello.” He greeted with a cheeky grin and a wave.

“And I’m Thor, God of Thunder, and Loki’s brother.” Fenrir nearly snickered out loud when the Thunder God gave withering look towards his master, who did not bother to look up from that drama booklet and missed the stare completely. “Brother, how could you not introduce me?”

“Adopted, actually.” His master corrected automatically, and continued in a dry, flat yet unimpressed tone. “Surely, Thor, you are capable of introducing yourself – it’s a lesson Father had instilled in us since we were young.”

It definitely wouldn’t be Master Loki if he didn’t jab Prince Thor occasionally, and it had been long overdue.  

“There are Gods walking amongst us now?” Barnes gaped in disbelief.

“Now then, since I see that you haven’t killed one another and seem capable of behaving civilly with each other, I will be taking my leave.” Master Loki snapped shut the drama booklet, and stood up. “Thor, I implore you to not disturb me for the next eight weeks. You have Fenrir for whatever nonsense you need to deal with Doom, HYDRA, and those sorcerers.”

“That’s highly specific time, Reindeer Games. Are you going to be busy with something?” Anthony inquired with furrowed brows and a thoughtful look. “And you’ve been reading that book since we’ve arrived. That’s highly suspicious, Loki-bear. I want in on the secret.”

Master Loki simply chuckled at that remark, and said, “I am not a billionaire as you are, Anthony. I do have my modeling gig, and now movie filming on top of it now. It will be released in a couple of months.”

Fenrir stifled a laugh when certain gleaming eyes directed at his master. He could already foretell that Anthony was already planning on recording the movie at its premiere somehow, and find a way to include English subtitle to it. It was a highly adorable antic, if he must admit t.

“Well then, don’t kill each other. I wouldn’t want to give Hela more work than she already has.”

Those words were the only warning everyone in the room received before Master Loki disappeared among multiple sheets of ice.

________

Bucky had to restrain himself from gaping when Loki disappeared among sheets of ice like it was a normal occurrence. He looked over to others in the room, noticing that they looked unphased by the disappearance, that he had to catalogue it as a normal event.

“So, what’s going to happen now?” He decided to ask that instead.

“Well,” Tony began with a small smirk that he didn’t know what to make of. “I know Fenrir did well in removing the triggers and brainwashing, but I have a program for you to use to make sure that you don’t have PTSD and whatever. You can stay with us at the compound since I have more than enough room. Let’s see… what else…”

“We would like to inquire you if you remember any details about HYDRA, Doom, or the sorcerers they work with.” The young man with grayish blue hair – Fenrir, his mind supplied – commented. “Of course, it’s not time sensitive. We can wait while you heal properly – I can easily handle these opponents, if you haven’t noticed from our last battle.”

“But neither you, Loki, or Thor would go all-out and obliterate them even if you could best them.” Tony remarked with what looked to be a pout.

Fenrir seemed thoroughly amused by that remark, if that smirk indicated anything, and responded with a, “It amuses us that they think they can win. Besides, we want to see how you would handle such threat, especially when you know that you are not alone in the universe.”

From what he remembered of the brief introduction, Clint – the archer of the group – looked displeased by the explanation. He would be too, if he was in their position, but he understood what Fenrir meant.

“Is this all a test of some sort?” Clint looked displeased by the explanation.

“Of some sort, yes.” Fenrir responded in a calm tone that seemed to irk the archer. “We are Gods, Agent Barton. As such, we cannot intervene whenever there are invasions that you and your race can defeat. It would defeat the purpose of letting you advance by yourselves, both technologically and as humans. One day, you will ready stand by yourself in Nine Realms without our assistance.”

“Huh, that does seem like a plausible explanation.” Tony muttered in reluctant acceptance.

Bucky had to admit, that does seem like a reasonable explanation – not that he knew anything about Gods roaming among humans or anything. In fact, he didn’t know this was a thing until now, and it surprised him how quick he accepted this.

“So, what’s you and Loki?” He decided to ask that instead, directing his inquiry to Howard’s son. “You got a thing for him or something? You were making googly eyes at him like a teenage girl with a crush.”

There were some stifled laughs, sputters, and indignant squawks – the latter two were from Tony. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Howard had a knowing smirk that somehow made Tony protest some more, not that any of them accepted such excuses.

“From what I gathered, Anthony worships my brother, Barnes.” Thor rumbled with much amusement. “It is entertaining to the rest of us that Loki knows this and likes to indulge Anthony. I dare say, he is my brother’s favorite, and I wouldn’t be surprise if Loki allows Sir Howard and Lady Maria to remain in this realm until their time.”

“Wait, what? Really?”

It was entertaining to see that hopeful sparkle in Tony's eyes upon hearing Thor's remark. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the fanboy antics the other man displayed – it was thoroughly amusing and almost cute.

“You shall have to see, Anthony.” That was all Thor said, but he and everyone else knew that smile indicated a hidden meaning.

“And what did Steve do to deserve this isolation you have with him? Surely, it can't just be because of his insistence of my innocence.” He decided to ask this instead, changing the topic once more.

“He knew about our deaths at your hands for two years, and didn’t bother to tell Tony.” Howard answered grumpily with a scowl.

Instead of giving a response to that explanation, he looked over to Steve and raised a quizzical brow to silently ask for a clarification. It was stupidly idiotic of Steve to do this, especially when they were friends with Howard and knew Tony.

________

“They have a power source to extract the power of Aether from a small talisman Doom have.” Bucky explained to the small group of heroes lounging in the common room.

It was his second week of staying in the compound, and as awkward as it was to interact with others, he liked it. Granted, it was somewhat strange to see his best friend isolated from others, but he got over it. After all, it was Steve’s choice and fault for doing such thing. He wasn’t going to participate in this nonsense if he could help it.

“What kind of power source are you talking about?” Natasha questioned with a raised brow.

“A mystical artifact that the sorcerers used.” He replied with a small shrug. “I don’t understand magic, but it seemed to draw out the power of Aether from Doom’s talisman. I recalled them using those powers to infuse to their weapons.”

“Do you know what those do?” Tony questioned without looking up from fiddling with a tablet. “And where they keep it? If we could locate where it is, and take away that power source, we should be able to defeat them.”

“Most likely in a HYDRA base since they are the ones providing the weapons.” Bucky answered with a thoughtful frown. “My guess is in Sokovia since that’s where the main headquarter is.”

Fenrir hummed understandingly in response, and uttered, “That’s where we’ll be heading to next… after we come with a thorough plan.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I'm not feeling well, so there will only be one update this weekend. I am, however, posting a one-shot of a Tony-centric story (called 'Merchant of Death') revolving around that infamous meeting with Steve in Avengers movie. 
> 
> Regardless, hope you are having better weekend than me. Being sick sucks.


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